Patients have to sleep on mattresses on the floor at hugely overloaded Tembisa Hospital
Management of the Tembisa Provincial Tertiary Hospital has been left with no choice but to make patients sleep on mattresses on the floor as the facility struggles to cope with the demand for beds. This is one of the major problems faced by the hospital in Ekurhuleni, which were detailed to provincial management of the South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) during a visit to the hospital on Tuesday. Other major problems include staff shortages‚ limited working space and an unreliable CT scanner. The visit was prompted by media reports of long queues and patients sleeping on the floor at the hospital. The commission is investigating if patients’ human rights have been violated through the problems at the hospital. Hospital CEO Lekopane Mogaladi told the commission and reporters that with the number of medical staff available‚ the hospital was struggling to cope with the high number of patients. Mogaladi said the hospital is servicing a larger population than what it was design...
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