KZN healthcare in need of emergency care: Section27

NGO Section27 has spoken out against failures in the KwaZulu-Natal healthcare system‚ saying that it was "in a state of emergency".

In a statement issued late on Monday‚ the NGO said: "Reports [from healthcare workers]reflect a collapsing health system which is in many cases no longer delivering adequate healthcare to the most vulnerable. Hospitals are experiencing shortages of lifesaving medicines and equipment‚ and suffering with departments that are entirely depleted of staff."

• Two days' training enough to make medics pro-gay: expertMany health workers admit that their religious and cultural beliefs prejudice them against gay patients. 

Earlier this month‚ about 1‚000 doctors marched through the Durban CBD to complain about the shambolic healthcare service. They said‚ among other things‚ that they were dangerously overworked because of dire shift vacancies and that working conditions were poor.

Section27 also charged that two hospitals‚ Inkosi Albert Luthuli and Addington "are no longer able to effectively treat cancer patients due to equipment breakdowns and a shortage of specialists".

"Air-conditioning machines are not being repaired resulting in surgeries being cancelled or hospital infections. The Health Professions Council of South Africa has warned several departments that they will lose their accreditation to train specialists in the current situation. The consequences of the crisis extend even to needless patient deaths‚" the statement continued.

• Medication errors: Kids at mercy of hospital dopesHundreds of medication errors are made in children's wards at one of the country's leading hospitals. 

The NGO‚ along with the Treatment Action Campaign (TAC)‚ said the situation had to be treated like an emergency.

"The TAC and Section27 calls on the KwaZulu-Natal and National Departments of Health to urgently share their plans to address this crisis. This is an emergency that requires an emergency response‚" they said.