Uproar at KZN hospital as DA confronts health MEC Dhlomo over cancer crisis
KwaZulu-Natal health MEC Sibongiseni Dhlomo was involved in a heated confrontation with the DA on Monday, after a delegation from the party was prevented from entering a public hospital to look at how cancer patients were treated. This came a month after a 68-page report by the South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) concluded that the provincial health department had failed cancer patients. According to the report, "the delays in the provision of‚ and in some cases the denial of‚ oncology services to cancer patients‚ some of whom are destitute and in need of healthcare‚ affects them in a most fundamental way". The SAHRC’s investigation followed a complaint lodged by the DA’s KwaZulu-Natal health spokesperson, Imran Keeka‚ in February 2016. Keeka had raised the alarm about a dire staffing crisis pertaining to oncology specialists and other medical staff‚ coupled with insufficient and nonfunctioning oncology machines and delays in treating patients. The department has until the...
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