Probe urged into chronic medicine shortages at Gauteng health facilities

Patients at several Gauteng public hospitals and clinics have been unable to get their regular chronic medication, the Democratic Alliance has said, calling on the provincial health department to investigate.

Madeleine Hicklin, the party's Gauteng spokesperson for health, said the shortages reportedly include medicines for high blood pressure, blood clots, epilepsy and mental health conditions such as bipolar disorder.

She named Steve Biko Academic Hospital, Charlotte Maxeke Johannesburg Academic Hospital, Nigel Clinic and Northmead Clinic among the affected facilities.

Hicklin called on the Gauteng department of health to establish whether the shortages stem from insufficient funding, procurement failures, supply-chain breakdowns or poor stock management and distribution, and to ensure a dependable supply of essential medicines across the province.

She cited a number of cases that had been reported to the DA. At Charlotte Maxeke, patients have reportedly struggled for months to get Symbicort, used to manage chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), and have been given alternatives including Turbuhaler or Tiores inhalation capsules.

At Steve Biko, a patient at risk of severe blood clots has not been supplied with the blood thinner Xarelto for at least two months. She is a pensioner living on a social grant and cannot afford the R2,000 a month the drug costs at a regular pharmacy. She was recently told she had developed a blood clot in her leg but still cannot get the medication, Hicklin said.

Nigel Clinic has not supplied medication for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), generalised anxiety or autism for the past three months, according to the DA. Northmead Clinic has had a chronic shortage of essential medicines, particularly for epilepsy, antipsychotic and bipolar medication, and some paediatric antiretrovirals, it said. Gauteng health MEC Faith Mazibuko acknowledged shortages in a written reply to a DA question about the unavailability of medicine at Northmead Clinic. She said that where stock was in short supply, alternative strengths and pack sizes were provided as substitutes so that treatment continued without interruption. Stock is also rotated between facilities within districts and, where necessary, across districts to improve availability and minimise wastage, she said.

Hicklin said going without medication for conditions such as epilepsy, hypertension, blood clots and serious mental illness could put lives at risk, worsen existing conditions and add pressure to an already stretched healthcare system.

The department rejected a similar DA claim in July about medicine shortages at Charlotte Maxeke, saying it contained factual errors, IOL reported. Hicklin declined to retract that statement, citing concerns raised by staff, Joburg ETC reported.

Sources: DA statement, written reply by MEC Faith Mazibuko, IOL & Joburg ETC.