Upgrading the hospital to tertiary level was a mistake
27 February 2024 - 15:57
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Among a mountain of problems the department of health has to tackle in its efforts to fix health facilities across the country, Tembisa Hospital will need a major overhaul.
It was built and opened as a regional hospital in 1972, the primary aim being to separate black patients who had previously been admitted to Edenvale Hospital along with white patients. The National Party government, in keeping with apartheid policies, deemed it necessary to build a hospital in the township exclusively for black patients.
Hospitals are divided into regional, tertiary and academic according to their capacity to handle relevant volumes of patients. The budget allocation is determined by the status of the hospital, with regional hospitals receiving the lowest budget according to bed occupancy as they cater only for local patients.
Tertiary hospitals, on the other hand, are referral hospitals receiving patients who are referred from regional hospitals and primary healthcare centres, previously called clinics. Because they treat a higher volume of patients they are designed to have a higher bed-occupancy status, which means more buildings to accommodate more patients, a bigger budget and more health professionals and other staff categories and equipment.
A grave mistake happened in October 2012 when Tembisa Hospital was upgraded to tertiary, without the necessary adjustments to the size of the hospital, the budget allocation or staffing levels and equipment. The problems plaguing the hospital will not go away until the necessary adjustments are made.
Cometh Dube-Makholwa Midrand
JOIN THE DISCUSSION: Send us an email with your comments to letters@businesslive.co.za. Letters of more than 300 words will be edited for length. Anonymous correspondence will not be published. Writers should include a daytime telephone number.
Support our award-winning journalism. The Premium package (digital only) is R30 for the first month and thereafter you pay R129 p/m now ad-free for all subscribers.
LETTER: Tembisa Hospital in need of overhaul
Upgrading the hospital to tertiary level was a mistake
Among a mountain of problems the department of health has to tackle in its efforts to fix health facilities across the country, Tembisa Hospital will need a major overhaul.
It was built and opened as a regional hospital in 1972, the primary aim being to separate black patients who had previously been admitted to Edenvale Hospital along with white patients. The National Party government, in keeping with apartheid policies, deemed it necessary to build a hospital in the township exclusively for black patients.
Hospitals are divided into regional, tertiary and academic according to their capacity to handle relevant volumes of patients. The budget allocation is determined by the status of the hospital, with regional hospitals receiving the lowest budget according to bed occupancy as they cater only for local patients.
Tertiary hospitals, on the other hand, are referral hospitals receiving patients who are referred from regional hospitals and primary healthcare centres, previously called clinics. Because they treat a higher volume of patients they are designed to have a higher bed-occupancy status, which means more buildings to accommodate more patients, a bigger budget and more health professionals and other staff categories and equipment.
A grave mistake happened in October 2012 when Tembisa Hospital was upgraded to tertiary, without the necessary adjustments to the size of the hospital, the budget allocation or staffing levels and equipment. The problems plaguing the hospital will not go away until the necessary adjustments are made.
Cometh Dube-Makholwa
Midrand
JOIN THE DISCUSSION: Send us an email with your comments to letters@businesslive.co.za. Letters of more than 300 words will be edited for length. Anonymous correspondence will not be published. Writers should include a daytime telephone number.
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