{"id":796431,"date":"2024-10-24T12:29:32","date_gmt":"2024-10-24T10:29:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/?p=796431"},"modified":"2024-10-24T12:29:38","modified_gmt":"2024-10-24T10:29:38","slug":"the-most-complained-about-hospitals-in-south-africa-with-gauteng-in-trouble","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/government\/796431\/the-most-complained-about-hospitals-in-south-africa-with-gauteng-in-trouble\/","title":{"rendered":"The most complained-about hospitals in South Africa &#8211; with Gauteng in trouble"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Ten Gauteng hospitals top the list for health ombud complaints, which some say reflects serious systemic issues in the economic hub&#8217;s healthcare management system.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Office of the Health Ombud\u2014a body that investigates health-related complaints\u2014recently presented its 2023\/24 annual report to the Parliamentary Portfolio\u00a0Committee on Health.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Health Ombudsman Emeritus Professor Taole Mokoena outlined that since the start of the 2019\/20 financial year, the Ombud received 14,556 complaints \u2013 57% of which stem from the country&#8217;s most populated province, Gauteng. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This was followed by the Western Cape with 13%, and KwaZulu-Natal with 11%.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;These, in the main, reflect the proportion of human density in those provinces. But, also, most of the tertiary hospitals and higher level of hospitalisation occurs in those three provinces,&#8221; said Mokoena.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-large\"><a  data-lightbox=\"post-image\" href=\"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/image-68.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"667\" src=\"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/image-68-1024x667.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-796433\" srcset=\"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/image-68-1024x667.png 1024w, https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/image-68-300x196.png 300w, https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/image-68-768x501.png 768w, https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/image-68.png 1094w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/a><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Source: Health Ombud presentation to Parliament<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n<p>Looking at the facilities with the most complaints since the start of the 2019\/20 financial year, these were:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Chris Hani Baragwanath Academic Hospital \u2013 221;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Steve Biko Academic Hospital \u2013 194;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Tembisa Tertiary Hospital \u2013 174;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Dr George Mukhari Academic Hospital \u2013 172;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Charlotte Maxeke Johannesburg Academic Hospital \u2013 149;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Helen Joseph Hospital \u2013 120;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Thelle Mogoerane Regional Hospital \u2013 104;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Kalafong Hospital \u2013 101;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Leratong Hospital \u2013 81; and<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Tambo Memorial Hospital \u2013 73.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>It should be noted that these ten health facilities are among the largest and busiest operating hospitals in the country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Mokoena <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=BlhbbYoP-KA\"><strong>told Newzroom Afrika <\/strong><\/a>that &#8220;what stands out is that the majority of complaints are actually to us what we can describe as &#8216;minor or trivial&#8217;, but of course to the people that do place the complaints, they&#8217;re not trivial to them.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;What we consider the &#8216;serious cases&#8217; amount to 10% of the cases, and of that 10%, only 2% end up being investigated [as these] cases have resulted in serious injury or death&#8221; due to the treatment that they had or had not received, said Mokoena.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>He added that these occur in both public and private healthcare institutions, but &#8220;by far the public has got the most complaints.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;I&#8217;ve done investigations outside my current position and what we have discovered&#8230; is that in the public sector, the management is actually in disarray,&#8221; said Mokoena.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;I know that&#8217;s a very strong characterisation, however the disarray can be seen from the fact that&#8230; the senior management in the provinces are acting, and acting managers have got very little authority on the people that they are leading,&#8221; he added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>He did emphasise that it is, however, unfair to paint all healtchcare professionals with the same brushstroke, as most most serve the profession with integrity and professionalism; although he admitted that there were some bad apples &#8220;in the minority.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\"><strong>Gauteng healthcare criticism<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>These complaint figures come on the back of a string of horror stories and claims of neglect and malpractice at Gauteng&#8217;s public hospitals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>One of the most recent viral stories was a video by former broadcaster Tom London posted after his admission at a Gauteng public hospital.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">A video taken by a patient at Helen Joseph Hospital has surfaced, revealing the alleged neglectful treatment of sick individuals at the facility. <br><br>Tom London has accused the doctors and nurses of lacking empathy and compassion in their care for patients. <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/FWQFYutzBK\">pic.twitter.com\/FWQFYutzBK<\/a><\/p>&mdash; MDN NEWS (@MDNnewss) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/MDNnewss\/status\/1832691957132369998?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">September 8, 2024<\/a><\/blockquote><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Mokoena said that the Ombud is investigating London&#8217;s video, which &#8220;showed some preliminary evidence that there&#8217;s something&#8230; there&#8221;.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;The issues that he brought up about infrastructure is real, and the investigation that [we] are doing shows the breakdown of infrastructure both in terms of the hospital itself as well as the breakdown of equipment,&#8221; said Mokoena.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>DA MPL serving in the Gauteng health and wellness portfolio, Jack Bloom, told BusinessTech that he is &#8220;not surprised&#8221; by the Ombud&#8217;s statistics, alleging that the Gauteng Health Department (GDoH) &#8220;is notoriously mismanaged and corrupt,&#8221; meaning effective healthcare often comes second.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For example, <a href=\"https:\/\/specialprojects.news24.com\/silenced\/index.html\"><strong>News24 reported<\/strong><\/a> that whistleblower within the GDoH,&nbsp;Babita Deokaran,&nbsp;tried to stop R100 million in dodgy payments and flagged nearly R850 million in other suspicious transactions in the department just days before she&nbsp;was assassinated in a hit-style killing outside her south Johannesburg home.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;Inadequate and broken equipment also contributes to the high number of patient complaints,&#8221; said Bloom.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Last year, there were more than 7,000 recorded Serious Adverse Events in Gauteng public hospitals. Bloom said &#8220;the problem is that there is a lack of consequences for medical mistakes and maltreatment.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>According to the GDoH, it is currently sitting on R13.2 billion in medico-legal claims.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Bloom said that his party &#8220;has called for a complete overhaul of top management in the Gauteng Health Department,&#8221; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.news24.com\/citypress\/politics\/da-asks-lesufi-to-remove-gauteng-health-boss-arnold-lesiba-malotana-20240918\"><strong>including the newly appointed HOD.<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\"><strong>GDoH response<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>GDoH head of communication Motalatale Modiba told BusinessTech that &#8220;the Gauteng government is committed to improving infrastructure of hospitals and clinics throughout [and is] actively preparing its healthcare facilities to be National Health Insurance (NHI) ready.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Modiba said that it is doing so in various ways.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Firstly is by enhancing its Infrastructure Unit, which &#8220;has developed a maintenance and refurbishment plan,&#8221; for 17 public hospitals across the province.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Additionally, the department is looking to add four new hospitals in Deveyton, Orange Farm, Soshanguve and Diepsloot to expand healthcare access.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;The GDoH also has plans to leverage on technological innovations to improve the provision of health care services,&#8221; said Modiba.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Initiatives include implementing an Integrated Health Information System for real-time monitoring, digitising patient records for efficiency, and establishing a Queue Management System to streamline patient flow.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-large is-resized\"><a  data-lightbox=\"post-image\" href=\"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/Nomantu-Nkomo-Ralehoko.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"874\" src=\"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/Nomantu-Nkomo-Ralehoko-1024x874.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-796911\" style=\"width:705px;height:auto\" srcset=\"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/Nomantu-Nkomo-Ralehoko-1024x874.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/Nomantu-Nkomo-Ralehoko-300x256.jpg 300w, https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/Nomantu-Nkomo-Ralehoko-768x656.jpg 768w, https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/Nomantu-Nkomo-Ralehoko-1536x1311.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/Nomantu-Nkomo-Ralehoko.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/a><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Gauteng Health MEC Nomantu Nkomo-Ralehoko<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n<p>The department has also refuted allegations that it is freezing all new posts, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.news24.com\/citypress\/news\/gauteng-health-confirms-r500m-budget-shortfall-amid-job-freeze-claims-20241016\">despite a shortfall of more than R500 million in its employee budget<\/a> due to a wage agreement from the previous year that was not fully funded by Treasury. Bloom does not believe this and said that it &#8220;is going to worsen the problem.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>However, the GDoH said that it will &#8220;prioritise the filling of critical clinical vacancies, including nursing positions and leadership roles (heads of departments and units) as funding becomes available.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Modiba said that since early 2023, it has prioritised filling clinical posts, with most now occupied. However, clinical support roles, such as cleaners and porters, remain vacant. Non-clinical positions are on hold pending approval from the Provincial Treasury. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The GDoH employs over 85,000 staff, with just over 1,100 vacancies remaining.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Looking at patient satisfaction with treatment, the GDoH said that it has recently launched initiatives to improve patient experiences, including a toll-free complaints line and the &#8220;I Serve With A Smile&#8221; campaign to enhance staff attitudes. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Additionally, patients can participate in the annual Patient Experience of Care (PEC) survey to provide feedback on their experiences.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>According to the GDoH, out of 1.67 million questionnaires responded to in the PEC survey which took place between July and September 2023, &#8220;a total of 1.41 million were responded positively to.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>However, according to Gauteng City-Region Observatory&#8217;s &nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.gcro.ac.za\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><strong>Quality of Life Index survey<\/strong><\/a>, two-thirds of Gauteng households use public health facilities, with a satisfaction rate of 57%.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Read: <a href=\"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/energy\/796422\/urgent-eskom-prepaid-electricity-alert\/\"><\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/government\/796278\/big-companies-looking-to-help-resolve-gautengs-water-crisis\/\">Big companies looking to help resolve Gauteng\u2019s water crisis<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Nearly 60% of Health Ombud complains stem from Gauteng, which has sparked great debate over the state of the province&#8217;s healthcare services.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":101,"featured_media":796473,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[20770,20769],"class_list":["post-796431","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-government","tag-gauteng-department-of-health","tag-health-ombud"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/796431","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/101"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=796431"}],"version-history":[{"count":18,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/796431\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":797062,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/796431\/revisions\/797062"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/796473"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=796431"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=796431"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=796431"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}