NW health department suspends four managers over expired medication

At least four managers have been suspended by the North West health department for allegedly mismanaging expired medication.

"The North West department of health can confirm that four managers in Mahikeng have been put on precautionary suspension following alleged mismanagement involving expired medication and management of the depot and staff, while an investigation continues," said spokesperson Tebogo Lekgethwane.

Two of the suspended managers are from a medical depot and other two from the provincial office.

Lekgwethwane said the purpose of the precautionary suspension was to ensure that the four managers' presence at work did not hinder the investigation. 

The probe is expected to highlight a failure to disclose or report the existence of a storage room housing expired medication at the depot.

The managers are also suspected of failing to pay service providers on time and being party to allegedly unfair labour practices.

The department said it was working on plans to avoid occurrences of similar challenges at its medical depot. "A system of reporting on disposal of expired medication and proper monitoring of stock levels is being implemented," said Lekgethwane.

"As part of intervention ... a SWAT team from NGOs who work in the area of pharmaceutical services has been brought in to attend to the weaknesses in this area," he added.