Patients suffer under staffing crisis at Tembisa Hospital

19 September 2024

Tembisa Hospital is facing a severe staffing crisis, leaving patients to suffer due to inadequate healthcare workers.

This is revealed by Gauteng Health MEC Nomantu Nkomo-Ralehoko in a written reply to my questions in the Gauteng Legislature.

Currently, the hospital has less than half the staff required for a tertiary institution. Whereas 4926 staff are needed to provide decent care to patients, there are only 2375 positions in the present staff establishment, of which 140 are vacant. The vacancies include 36 professional nurses, 6 staff nurses, 14 medical officers, and 11 cleaners.

For more than two years, the hospital has been without a permanent CEO as Dr Ashley Mthunzi, the former CEO, was suspended due to procurement irregularities before his death in April this year. Key management positions, including four clinical department heads and a nursing manager, are still unfilled, adding to the hospital’s leadership vacuum.

Worryingly, 225 staff members have resigned since the beginning of the year, including 147 nurses and 43 doctors, further straining the hospital’s capacity.

The MEC says: "Posts for clinical staff are being filled as and when they are vacated, Admin and Support posts are currently frozen, submission written and awaiting approval."

It is incomprehensible that critical posts remain frozen while the hospital is overwhelmed by patients. There is also a delay in increasing the staff establishment in line with the norms for a tertiary hospital. While the proposed Tertiary Structure has been approved by the MEC, it awaits approval from the Department of Public Service and Administration.

In the proposed staff structure, there would be 2768 nurses and 642 doctors, as compared to 1239 nurses and 338 doctors at present.

It is scandalous that so little has been done to fully staff this hospital which has been hit by massive procurement irregularities, as exposed by murdered whistleblower Babita Deokaran. The SIU estimates that about R3 billion of its budget was misspent over three years!

The DA will continue to fight for Tembisa Hospital to have sufficient resources to provide the quality care that patients deserve.

Issued by Jack Bloom, DA Gauteng Shadow Health MEC, 19 September 2024