Grahamstown may already be well on its way to a health disaster, as its only TB hospital remains with no full-time doctor or hospital manager, after its only doctor resigned three months ago and nurses struggle under a demanding workload.
Grahamstown may already be well on its way to a health disaster, as its only TB hospital remains with no full-time doctor or hospital manager, after its only doctor resigned three months ago and nurses struggle under a demanding workload.
Temba TB hospital in Fingo Village has struggled with staff problems all year. Not only do they have too few nurses, but their doctor resigned three months ago and the health department is still dragging its feet over the hiring of the doctor who was supposed to start there at the beginning of October.
In August Grocott's Mail reported that a new early discharge policy at the 60-bed facility placed Grahamstown on the brink of a health crisis, as a handful of staff struggled to care for a fast-growing population of TB patients in the Grahamstown area.
Staff shortages range from professional nurses to porters. Chairperson of the hospital's board, Xolani Simakuhle, confirmed in August that the hospital had resorted to limiting beds to numbers the current staff could cope with.
"This could result in Makana having a TB crisis," Simakuhle warned at the time. "The bed limitation will impact very badly on the community, because TB could spread to the people of Makana."
Non-compliance with the rigorous treatment regimen for TB has in the past been identified as a factor in its rapid spread in communities and a low cure-rate. Hospitalisation has been identified as a way of ensuring that patients comply with treatment.
Now, Grahamstown patients who are not critical are discharged and told to collect their treatment at the nearest clinic, or as outpatients at the hospital.
Board chairman Xolani Simakuhle said they'd known it would be a risk to sent patients home, but the staff's unbearable workload meant they had no choice.
Last week, Simakuhle told Grocott's Mail that the board had sent letters to the health department and were still waiting for a doctor to be appointed. "Dr Santhia (from Settlers Hospital) is assisting us in the meantime and has been doing a great job," Simakuhle said.
“We also have still not got the nod from them to extend the contracts of nurses whose contracts are going to end."
Department of Health spokesperson Sizwe Kupelo said the hospital's Nursing Service Manager (matron) is acting CEO until March 2013. "This is on a temporary basis until the finalisation of the appointment of the doctor who will be the head of the institution," Kupelo said in an emailed reply to questions from Grocott's Mail.
The interviews for the doctor's position were done today [last Tuesday], said Kupelo. He said that in October, interviews had been conducted for four professional nurses, two enrolled nurses and two enrolled nursing assistants.
The documents have been submitted to the Province for approval of appointment of these nurses. Currently the hospital is using agency nurses until [then]. According to a statement from the Western Cape Ministry of Health on World TB Day on 24 March this year, the national incidence of TB in South Africa averages 823 per 100 000 population. TB incidence in the Eastern Cape is 960 per 100 000.
Helping hands needed
Temba Hospital board chairman Xolani Simakuhle has appealed to community members to help them repaint the hospital. "Everything has been purchased," Simakuhle said. "We just needed helping hands."
