48 EMPTY ICU BEDS IN GAUTENG HOSPITALS DESPITE HUGE NEED

Gauteng hospitals are short of 307 nurses to staff Intensive Care Units (ICUs), leaving 48 ICU beds unused despite an assessed shortage of 160 ICU beds in the province.

This is revealed by Gauteng Health MEC Qedani Mahlangu in a written reply to my questions in the Gauteng Legislature.

According to Mahlangu, ICU beds lie unused because of a shortage of staff and equipment.

In addition to the 307 vacancies for ICU nurses, there are 26 vacancies for ICU doctors and nine ICUs do not have a department head.

The largest number of unused beds is at the Steve Biko Academic Hospital which has 15 empty ICU beds, followed by Chris Hani Baragwanath with 12 empty beds, Bertha Gxowa with 6 empty beds, Leratong (5 empty beds) and Mamelodi Hospital (4 empty beds).

The hospitals with the highest need for ICU beds are as follows:

Chris Hani Baragwanath - 40 beds

Charlotte Maxeke Johannesburg - 26 beds

George Mukhari - 20 beds

The Helen Joseph, Tembisa, Leratong, and Tambo hospitals each require an extra 10 ICU beds.

There is a further assessed shortage of 92 paediatric beds in total, which has dire implications for treatment of severely ill children.

The shortages are alarming as many desperately ill patients die because they need ICU care.

It forces doctors to choose between patients as to who will live and who will die.

Many operations are also delayed because no ICU bed is available.

It's a crisis situation that demands urgent intervention.

Statement issued by Jack Bloom MPL, DA Gauteng Shadow Health MEC, November 5 2014

Click here to sign up to receive our free daily headline email newsletter