WeeklySA_AdminDITHERING:A Health department says medication shortages due to service providers failing to deliver on time
By Boitumelo Tshehle
Doctors in the North West have expressed their frustrations with the shortage of medication particularly for chronic patients.They say the province has been running short of medications for months and that makes their job difficult as they cannot control their patients’ treatment properly.
A doctor, who did not want his name to be mentioned, said patients that were referred to local clinics because their health was stabilised, often returned to the hospitals in a deteriorating condition caused by not taking medication. He said they were then forced to improvise when prescribing medication.
“Most of our patients come to the centres complaining about lack of medication at the local clinics. Some patients unfortunately when they don’t find medication at the local clinics they don’t return to the hospitals,” he said. Another doctor said the shortage of medication was not only experienced at local clinics, but in different hospitals as well.
“We also struggle to treat Covid-19 . You go to casualty you will find that some medications, especially emergency medication that we normally use, is not available,” he said.
The doctors said whenever there was a shortage of medication, it took more than two weeks before new stock arrives.
Lerato Modise is a mother of a six-month-old baby. She says she was returned from a local clinic in Itsoseng because there was no medication for mmunisation. “We are all living in fear because of Covid-19. So we are not sure how this situation will affect babies with weak immune systems,” she said.
North West Department of Health spokesman Tebogo Lekgethwane, said the department was attending to the matter.
“The department acknowledges that there have been challenges of shortages of some medication and some items, largely due to the service provider suppliers who have not delivered on time.
“We are going to try to speed up delivery to the areas and hospitals where the shortage is experienced. We do also realise that there are challenges internally in terms of the supply chain processes and even in terms of paying some of the service providers.
That is something that the management of the department is attending to, to make sure that no service provider will have a leg to stand on as far as failing to deliver,” Lekgethwane said.
Lekgwthwane has also has apologised to patients who were affected by the shortage and encouraged them to go back to healthcare facilities to collect their medication.
