PAPER SHORTAGE LEADS TO CANCELLED OPS AT HELEN JOSEPH

Most scheduled operations were cancelled yesterday at the Helen Joseph Hospital in west Johannesburg due to a shortage of the special paper used to wrap instruments for sterilisation.

This hospital has been plagued by shortages and equipment failure that has disrupted surgery badly throughout this year and last year.

It's unclear why they ran out of the special paper, but poor management is at the root of the ongoing problems.

Surely the paper could have been ordered in time when it was seen to be running out?

Or is it yet again a case of a supplier not being paid?

We need to know why surgeons are frequently unable to operate at this hospital because of problems of various kinds.

It's extremely unfair on patients who wait a long time for operations to relieve their suffering.

Statement issued by Jack Bloom MPL, DA Gauteng Health Spokesman, October 19 2012

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