Jane Cowley

Dear MyPE The Burgersdorp Hospital is in crisis, with hospital staff on strike since Monday over critical staff shortages that have simply been ignored by the Department of Health. The hospital is currently functioning with one nurse on duty, while the rest have downed tools. Patients are being referred to hospitals in neighbouring towns, but there is genuine concern over casualties that need immediate attention, which they may not get due to the strike. I will be writing to MEC for … [Read more...] about Burgersdorp Hospital crisis as nursing staff go on strike

Dear MyPE There can be no doubt that the Department of Health is in crisis and urgent intervention is needed, but instead of taking steps to improve the situation, officials within the Department have allegedly found a way to use these failings to their advantage. Department Officials are allegedly working with unscrupulous lawyers and the State Attorney’s Office to defraud the Department by losing cases that could have been defended, for kickbacks from the settlements. A national … [Read more...] about Health Department’s failings being exploited by the greedy and corrupt

Dear MyPE Diabetes is a silent killer that lurks in nearly every home across the Eastern Cape. Statistics show that this condition is becoming ever more prevalent and has become one of the leading causes of death in the province, even surpassing tuberculosis as the number on cause of death in some areas. The Department of Health needs to be held to account. I will be submitting questions to the legislature to establish how the prevalence of this condition, and the consequent incidences … [Read more...] about Department of Health not doing enough to combat Diabetes

Dear MyPE The Department of Health is playing Russian Roulette with the lives of over six million people in the province, as it continues to ignore the plight of the Emergency Medical Services sector. People in crisis, who need urgent medical attention, are at times forced to wait for hours, because half of the already severely under-resourced ambulance service is stuck in a hopelessly cumbersome fleet management repair system. This crisis has now been compounded by the strike … [Read more...] about Health plays Russian Roulette with people’s lives

Dear MyPE The failing ANC government has brought the Department of Health in the Eastern Cape to the brink of collapse, with the Auditor General (AG) raising serious concerns over its financial sustainability in its recently tabled Annual Report for the 2017/18 financial year. This stems from a staggering contingent liability of R24,326 billion, which constitutes mostly of medico-legal claims (24.193 billion). This contingent liability has risen by a jaw dropping R 7,575 billion from … [Read more...] about Eastern Cape Health on the verge of collapse

Dear MyPE A heartbreaking revelation by a patient at Frere Hospital has revealed how patients have been told they may only relieve themselves three times a day, after meals, and that if they need to urinate at any other time of the day, they may not receive assistance. In a plea on social media last week, Sinethemba Joya, 29, who has been hospitalised after a taxi accident, posted how she had to use her lunchbox to relieve herself because she had missed the 4am allocated toilet … [Read more...] about Frere Hospital staff shortages impacting on patient’s dignity

Dear MyPE There is not a single public hospital in the Eastern Cape that has been inspected for safety, that has been deemed safe for patients and health care workers. This was revealed by the MEC for Health Helen Sauls-August in a written reply to a parliamentary question. According to Sauls-August, none of the health facilities inspected by her department were found to be compliant to the Occupational Health and Safety Act, mainly because of structural building issues, poor … [Read more...] about Eastern Cape’s public hospitals fail at safety

Dear MyPE The Butterworth Hospital has blown its annual goods and services budget in less than six months and is now facing the real possibility of not being able to feed patients under the Hospital’s care. Following a recent oversight inspection to the facility, it was revealed that the hospital has blown through 96% of their budget of R19,6 million, with just R781,000 left as of the middle of August. Service providers, including security personnel, have not been paid since July. Even … [Read more...] about It Would Appear that Butter is not Worth Very Much

Dear MyPE The Democratic Alliance in Makana Local Municipality has tabled a motion with Mr Moppo Mene, Makana Municipal Manager, requesting that the plight of residents at Sun City Informal Settlement in Makhanda be debated at the next council meeting. (see letter attached) Sun City was established on an old garbage dump site and consists of about 100 shacks that house about 500 people, all of which use the bucket system. The community also share a single working tap. The tap leaks … [Read more...] about MEC Xasa asked to assist Makhanda residents oppressed by poverty

Dear MyPE The campus clinic at the University of Fort Hare in Alice has received no medicines since the end of April this year, the dispensary is nearly bare, and there has not been a doctor since 2016. Students are forced to walk to town and queue for hours at the Victoria Gateway Clinic, or at the War Memorial Clinic, to be treated or collect chronic medication, causing them to miss out on critical lectures. This directly impacts on the academic success of students and the overall … [Read more...] about UFH Alice Campus Clinic languishes without medication

Dear MyPE The Department of Health has quietly scrapped a multi-million-rand mental health facility earmarked for Dora Nginza hospital, despite the growing crisis in mental health care in the province. Unless this Department changes course when dealing with mental health issues, it is on track to a full-blown human rights crisis. In response to a parliamentary question, MEC Helen Sauls-August confirmed that the planned facility, which was announced in 2013 and was meant to replace the … [Read more...] about Health Department quietly scraps multi-million rand mental health facility, amid growing EC crisis

Dear MyPE On Tuesday (4 September 2018) the Health MEC, Helen Sauls-August, declared that her department has set aside R10 million to address staff vacancies in mental health posts. While this move is welcomed, it is just a drop in the ocean when compared to the actual needs of a directorate that has been mismanaged and neglected for years. By the MEC’s own admission there are more vacancies in the province than actual staff. Sauls-August said the money had been set aside in this … [Read more...] about R10 million commitment a drop in the ocean for Mental Health needs

Dear MyPE People across the Eastern Cape, who are in desperate need of basic healthcare and medicine, are being ignored by the Department of Health, who have lost sight of their mandate of providing and ensuring accessible, comprehensive, integrated health care services. This was evident during a recent oversight visit to the St Patrick’s Gateway Clinic in Bizana recently. What I witnessed there was a stark reminder of just how badly the Department of Health has failed. The clinic is … [Read more...] about Clinics in crisis

Dear MyPE Vacancies in critical posts in hospitals and clinics across the Eastern Cape contribute to the ongoing health crisis. According to national norms and standards, less than half (49%) the necessary numbers of medical specialists are employed by the province. Only two thirds (66%) of the required numbers of medical doctors are currently employed. This information was made available by the MEC for Health, Helen Sauls-August, in response to a question I submitted to her in the … [Read more...] about Vacancies undermining Eastern Province health care delivery

Dear MyPE The desperate shortage of ambulances in the Eastern Cape is a crisis that is costing lives. I challenge the MEC, Helen Sauls-August, to spell out clear action steps to overcome this disastrous state of affairs. People are dying on your watch, MEC. In response to questions set in the Legislature, the MEC for Health, Helen Sauls-August, acknowledged that the province requires 656 working ambulances in order to comply with the national norm of 1 ambulance per 10 000 people. … [Read more...] about Eastern Cape government undermined Human Rights Commission