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Health workers and patients in the temporary area outside the Steve Biko Academic Hospital, created to detect and treat suspected cases of Covid-19.
PHOTO: Gallo Images / Alet Pretorius
- Health Minister Zweli Mkhize said the staff shortage in the triage area of Steve Biko Academic Hospital has been resolved.
- According to Mkhize, 33 more nurses have been hired urgently.
- It was previously reported that healthcare workers in the triage area were not coping with the influx of Covid-19 patients.
The staff shortage in the classification area of Steve Biko Academic Hospital was solved after 33 nurses were hired on an urgent basis.
This, according to Health Minister Zweli Mkhize, who visited the hospital in Tshwane on Tuesday.
Mkhize had a briefing with the hospital administration and also visited the triage area, as well as the Tshwane District Hospital, which had been hosting Covid-19 patients.
After the walk, Mkhize said he was quite satisfied with the work that went into the hospital to address the challenges at the state health center.
Mkhize said:
Much work has been done, in particular the problem of staff shortages has been resolved.
The minister said he received a report that hospital management interviewed several nurses on Monday and that 33 people had been employed on an urgent basis.
Some of the nurses who were employed started work on Tuesday, while the rest were expected to start on Wednesday.
“We will respond quickly to match the increase in the number of people who have Covid-19,” Mkhize added.
News24 recently reported that the state hospital had seen a sharp increase in Covid-19 patients in its triage area that had been set up in a parking lot in the hospital’s emergency area.
IN PHOTOS | Dramatic scenes at Steve Biko hospital as Covid-19 cases skyrocket
The Gauteng health department said the specialty hospital was under great pressure due to the influx of suspected Covid-19 patients from other hospitals around Gauteng, and even from other provinces during the second wave.
A doctor working in the triage area, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told News24 that the number of patients entering the triage areas seeking medical care was unsustainable and had been compounded by alleged lack of capacity, resuscitation equipment and PPE.
The doctor painted a gruesome picture, stating that the sorting shops had been very congested due to the influx of patients. As a result, there were not enough bedding, which meant that patients had to put up with the “cold tents” and, in some cases, there were not enough beds, the doctor said.
At the time, Steve Biko Academic Hospital Executive Director Dr. Mathabo Mathebula denied there was a lack of proper PPE and said it was likely a matter of preference that led doctors to complain that there were different types of masks.
He admitted that the hospital’s triage tents had been under great pressure with capacity issues in terms of space and the number of healthcare workers caring for patients.
Mathebula said:
Capacity will never be enough if numbers come in in large quantities, there will always be a capacity problem.
She said the situation was not ideal, but when patients came in, gasped for air and needed medical treatment, they couldn’t be turned away.
Instead, patients had been cared for and stabilized before being transferred if they were determined to be positive for Covid-19.
Mkhize also touched on testing for Covid-19 and said they wanted to speed up the use of rapid antigen tests in staging areas to ensure patient wait times were further shortened.
Regarding the bed capacity issues, the minister said an agreement had been established that if hospital beds in Gauteng were filled, Covid-19 patients would be transferred to the Nasrec field hospital.
