PE Provincial Hospital failing its people

It is the 31st of March and the outside perimeters of PE Provincial Hospital are buzzing with excitement. Nurses are receiving their monthly income and as a result most of them have granted themselves with a half-day. On the other hand, inside, the hospital is filled with patients waiting in line to be attended to. Some have been waiting since the early hours of the day for medical examination, while others have sacrificed their last pennies for taxi fare. There is no assistance at the admissions booth and the numbers of patients are growing each minute. They sit helplessly on the tainted wooden chairs as raindrops and a gush of wind penetrate through the cracked windows. This would be classified as negligent behaviour on account that the patients are already in severe conditions but there is nobody to report to. Local government officials have already turned a blind eye on this matter.

PE Provincial is rumoured to being short-staffed, and, consequently under-qualified staff are being employed. Only a limited amount of nurses are available and they are working at a snail’s pace. Nursing students from the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University have been assisting doctors with patients but since the hospital is under scrutiny they are only performing minor duties. Multiple security guards are circulating the hospital, under strict orders not to allow the media to enter. The hospital is evidently hiding information following the Herald’s exposure on the state of Port Elizabeth’s hospitals. The hospital’s walls need an urgent repaint as paint is peeling off the walls, the elevators have not been working for 5 months and stairs are the only alternatives, even for weak patients. Some patients lie in wet beds for days before being administered a new mattress.

The state of public hospitals is worsening but nothing is being done to improve the poor standards. It is shocking to see that the ignorant and poor do not know any better. Nondumiso Stuurman, a Kwazakhele resident says that all public hospitals are the same. She has become immune to the poor service and facilities because she cannot afford the expenses of a medical aid. There is clearly a pattern of mismanagement within the Public Health System.

Numerous emails have been sent to Thulani Madontsela, the CEO of Port Elizabeth hospitals but to no avail. The government needs to report where the hospital funds are distributed to because there is no proof of developments. PE Provincial may be the oldest hospital in Port Elizabeth but that should not justify the conditions it is in. It is poignant to see the failure in a facility that is meant to be saving lives. One can only hope that the fatcats consider the poor and frail.

By Andisiwe Mtengwane