Pretoria – The Steve Biko Academic Hospital in Tshwane says in recent times it has experienced frequent “quenching” of its MRI scanning machine which has resulted in disruption of services.
Hospital CEO, Dr Mathabo Mathebula said an enquiry was made to the company responsible for the maintenance of the machine, to conduct investigations into the matter.
“According to their report, the cause of quenching is unstable power supply. As a hospital, we want to have a further discussion with the company because Steve Biko Academic Hospital’s electric supply never gets interrupted. Our hospital is completely exempted from load shedding,” said Mathebula.
"In addition, the machine in question has never quenched since 2006, and even in instances where electricity supply was interrupted for whatever reason, we had never experienced these kinds of problems,” she said.
Mathebula said she is waiting for “a plausible explanation” before additional money is spent again on the machine that keeps on quenching.
The hospital boss apologised to community members for the inconvenience caused by the interruptions.
“We would like to apologise to our healthcare users for the inconvenience that might have been caused by these interruptions. And also, to assure the public that the MRI scanning services are still accessible through Kalafong Provincial Tertiary Hospital. We will continue to keep our stakeholders informed in this regard,” said Mathebula.
Earlier this week, the DA’s Member of the Provincial Legislature, Jack Bloom said patient care at the Steve Biko Academic Hospital is suffering as the MRI machine has been broken for nearly a month.
“It’s another blow for patients after non-urgent surgery was recently cancelled for more than a week because of broken air-conditioners in the operating theatre.
“Use of a MRI machine is essential in the diagnosis of certain cancers, as well as giving a clearer picture of injuries to soft tissues, joints and internal organs,” he said.
Bloom, who is the DA’s spokesperson on health, said the MRI machine is 16-years-old “and is no longer on a service plan as it should already have been replaced”.
“It broke in August this year because of cable theft and was then fixed, but the unstable power supply from load shedding has been blamed for another breakdown in mid-September.
“Usually, this machine is used for about 10 patients a day, so more than 150 patients have not been properly diagnosed as the only alternative MRI is at the Kalafong Hospital.
“This latest breakdown shows the need for pre-planning to purchase new machines when required, and proper servicing for existing machines,” he said.
The DA proposed that authority should be devolved to the CEOs of major hospitals like Steve Biko Academic Hospital, to ensure proper maintenance of machinery and purchase of new machines when necessary.
“It’s another failure by the corrupt and dysfunctional Gauteng Department of Infrastructure Development,” said Bloom.
IOL