Eastern Cape health department suspends two emergency staff

The Eastern Cape health department has suspended two emergency staff for failing to arrive at an emergency scene after being dispatched, the department said on Friday.

“Last night [Thursday] an ambulance was impounded by police after it was dispatched to respond to an emergency in a rural village but failed to arrive,” said spokesman Sizwe Kupelo.

“Following several attempts to locate the officials, the ambulance was found to be parked outside a house in a Mthatha suburb. It was then impounded.”  Kupelo said the department was taking action against the two officials, who had been suspended.

“The department is currently spending millions of rands with patients suing the department for late ambulance responses, which sometimes result in death, or botched operations in hospitals,” he said.

The department had also uncovered two scams.

The first involved emergency vehicle parts being stolen while dispatched to attend to patients, with an emergency vehicle impounded on Friday morning in the Mthatha CBD for this reason.

The second scam, with the department in possession of a forensic report, implicated a number of filling stations in Mthatha, Port Elizabeth, Butterworth, and Alice.

Petrol cards used at the filling stations saw an excessive amount of petrol being paid for, costing the department thousands of rands, said Kupelo.

“Even petrol cards attached to ambulances under repair continued to be used,” he said.

The department was investigating the matter and would take action against officials implicated.