Major surgery needed to revive Eastern Cape health care

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Eastern Cape opposition parties say major surgery is needed to revive the Eastern Cape Health Department.

On Wednesday, a parliamentary committee received a grim report about the state of health facilities in the province when the Bhisho Health Department was called to account for expenditure on its infrastructure programme.

According to a report on Thursday, a high level audit by the national health department said most Eastern Cape Health facilities would need to close once the norms and standards governing health facilities become law.

Democratic Alliances spokesperson on Health in the Eastern Cape, John Cupido, says the state of health care in the province is a clear indication of a lack of political leadership.

"There is no leadership in the type of future planning that needs to be done in the department of health, the members of the provincial parliament are pushing through budgets that are clearly not enough to provide the proper health care for everyone in the province so it is something that needs to be relooked, we need proper leadership in the department and the province to be able to correct everything that has gone wrong" Cupido said.