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Parliament’s Portfolio Committee on Health says Gqeberha’s Livingstone Hospital is in a bad state and does not deserve to be called a hospital.
This stinging rebuke came from Committee chairperson, Dr Kenneth Jacobs, following an oversight visit to the hospital this weekend.
In a subsequent statement, he said that Committee members told the acting Chief Executive Officer, Dr Mathandeki Xamlashe, that he should turn things around after they discovered that the hospital “had degenerated” from its former glory.
“Patients wait for a very long time for doctors at points of service such as casualty and trauma units, no linen in wards and there is no maintenance as a result tiles on the passages within the hospital are crumbling,” he said.
Jacobs said the committee heard that the hospital received R1.5 billion for the current financial year, but that was like a drop in the ocean given the budget deficit which is largely caused by payment of service providers that were not paid in the last financial year.
However, he said the Committee commended the clinical staff who, in spite of the appalling conditions under which they work, continue to render services to the people especially the poorest of the poor South Africans.”
Jacob said the Parliamentary Committee will be demanding quarterly reports and from February will convene virtual meetings with hospital management.
