Nelson Mandela Bay cancer patients bused to Western Cape

A tender given to a company which had a tax glitch has resulted in hundreds of state cancer patients waiting months for bone scans – with some so desperately in need they were put on buses to the Western Cape.

The standoff due to the tax issue has brought the construction of a special bunker for a bone scanner at Port Elizabeth’s Livingstone Hospital to a halt.

Now Health MEC Pumza Dyantyi has been asked to step in and explain the situation to the provincial legislature.

The hospital’s old scanner broke down around January this year and technicians said it could no longer be fixed as it was too old.

A new multi-million rand machine was purchased but is standing idle at Provincial Hospital as it needs a special concrete bunker for health and safety reasons.

The Herald