Urgent plea for reform at Charlotte Maxeke hospital as dialysis crisis deepens

According to the author, a deepening crisis at Charlotte Maxeke Academic Hospital raises concerns about life-threatening shortages and systemic failures, prompting urgent calls for intervention and reform. Image:Motlabana Monnakgotla, Independent Newspapers Charlotte Maxeke Academic Hospitalhas serious life-threatening problems that need very urgent attention, and the Health Minister Dr Aaron Motsoaledi and the Health Ombudsman have a duty to do everything in their power to stop the looming disaster. First, doctors at Charlotte Maxeke raised serious concerns about the high rate of postoperative cardiothoracic patients’ deaths; before we hear about corrective measures being taken to deal with the disastrous situation, The Startoday(29 July) reports another disastrous situation where the hospital has run out of dialysis supplies.

Dialysis is a life-saving treatment for patients with kidney failure, who must have dialysis every week for the rest of their lives or until they have a kidney transplant, if they get a compatible donor; otherwise, they face imminent death. The R310 billion allocated for health services for the 2025/ 2026 financial year is only a tiny drop in the ocean, hardly enough to finance one academic hospital for a year. A medical disaster far exceeding the Life Esidimeni tragedy is upon us.

The premier of Gauteng, Panyaza Lesufi, has continued to appoint MECs for health with no health services background at all, even though that was one of the fundamental reasons for the Life Esidimeni tragedy. The fact that some of the hospitals were looted by greedy, corrupt people who have bought several mansions, luxury cars, and even helicopters and boats for some, leaving poor patients facing death, has compounded the situation, with the BEE policy having led to excessive levels of entitlement and evaluation of tender applications so compromised that people who have no clue about health services have ended up winning tenders, effectively misappropriating the funds for their own selfish gains.