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Overcrowding Crisis at Uitenhage Hospital: Patients on Floors Amid Bed Shortage

Published November 13, 2024
3 months ago

In a disheartening display of the healthcare challenges in South Africa, conditions at the Uitenhage Provincial Hospital in Kariega have reached a critical point where patients, including a young man with a stab wound, are being left to lie on the floor, some receiving IV drips in this manner. This saddening scenario was witnessed firsthand during a visit by GroundUp on Monday.





The said patient, a 22-year-old with a chest injury, expressed his family's frustration at the lack of basic care facilities, detailing how his father was upset with the hospital's state. The absence of beds has forced some family members to take their loved ones home, foregoing the medical care they need, out of unwillingness to subject them to these appalling conditions.


Khosi Brandy, a local from Area 11 informal settlement, made a painful decision to remove her sister from the hospital to avoid her sleeping on the hard floor. Amidst the scarcity of beds, even ambulance services are hindered, affecting emergency responses and patient transfers.


The situation on the ground floor of the hospital is dire, with around twenty patients packed into the ward, some forced to lie outside. Complaints about the lack of food and mistreatment by staff further exacerbate the patients’ agony.


Mzi Nkata, Provincial secretary for the National Union of Public Service and Allied Workers in the Eastern Cape, acknowledges the widespread nature of this healthcare emergency, which spans across the metro and even touches adjacent regions.


The spokesperson for the MEC for Health, Mkhululi Ndamase, contends that those on the floor haven't been formally admitted but chooses to downplay the severity by describing the area as a waiting space. He ascribes the bed shortage to demographic pressures and a rise in trauma and mental health cases that push the facility to its limits. Yet, he also points to a systemic misuse where patients bypass local clinics in favor of hospitals, leading to unnecessary congestion and prolonged waiting periods.


The Uitenhage Provincial Hospital’s predicament is a microcosm of the larger systemic issues plaguing the healthcare sector in the region, calling for immediate and substantial policy interventions and infrastructural investments to ensure that the community's health and wellness needs are adequately and humanely met.


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