Note to editors: Please find attached soundbite by Dr Jack Bloom MPL.
The DA in Gauteng will monitor the efforts to reduce the backlog of more 14000 biopsy reports, many of which are urgent cancer cases.
This follows my oversight visit this morning with my NCOP colleague Nicola du Plessis to the Histology Laboratory at the Charlotte Maxeke Johannesburg Hospital (CMJH), which falls under the National Health Laboratory Service.
See photos here, here, here, and here.
This laboratory serves 15 hospitals in Johannesburg, East and West Rand, and the Vaal area, including CMJH, and the Helen Joseph, Sebokeng, Tembisa, Edenvale, Far East Rand and Leratong hospitals.
According to the laboratory, they have 1540 specimens in formalin to be processed, and 12756 processed cases that need to be reported by pathologists.
This means a total backlog of 14296 reports that doctors need for diagnosis and treatment, and every month, there are 4000 new cases.
In the case of breast lumps, for instance, it takes 4 to 6 weeks instead of 7 days to get the biopsy report. Other urgent cancer cases can take several months.
This is incredibly traumatic for cancer patients who wait for biopsy results, and treatment delays mean extra suffering and a higher risk.
Whereas the laboratory had 15 pathologists five years ago, they now have only four pathologists. They are also short of four medical pathologists. They have 17 vacancies in total.
Furthermore, they said the night shift had been discontinued last year due to staff shortages, but they should ideally be running a 24-hour service.
We expressed our concern at the huge backlog which needs to be brought down urgently,
They committed to sending the most urgent cases to private laboratories and other NHLS facilities. This would amount to between 2000 and 3000 outsourced cases a month, so it will take many months to bring the total backlog down.
I will be monitoring the situation in Gauteng to ensure that the most urgent cases are prioritised, and Nicola du Plessis will ask questions in Parliament about measures to retain pathologists in the NHLS and train sufficient replacements.
The biopsy backlog should never have been allowed to get so high, with unacceptable waiting times for cancer cases and other life-threatening cases.
A DA-run administration would ensure competent management in all health-related positions, with good working conditions to retain qualified staff, and consequences for non-performance that risk the lives of patients.