The Democratic Alliance is concerned that heart patients at the Charlotte Maxeke Johannesburg Hospital are at risk because of the hasty decommissioning of the angiogram machine before the new one arrives in three months time.
This expensive machinery is critical in imaging blocked arteries for vascular surgery to save lives and the limbs of patients with vascular disease.
The old angio suite was supposed to be replaced in 2018, but medical staff were told in early August that it was being decommissioned within a week. They had to inform patients they have to wait for the two new replacement machines to be installed.
It is inexplicable why the old machine is not being used pending the arrival of the new machines which cost about R44.5 million. The delay may be more than three months as rooms need to be renovated to house the new machines.
I will be asking questions in the Gauteng Legislature about this poor planning that risks the lives of heart patients. I will also probe whether corruption is involved in the abrupt sale of the old machine, apparently for scrap.