The Democratic Alliance claims that four radiation machines have failed because the repair bill has not been paid.
|||Four radiation machines at the Steve Biko Academic Hospital in Pretoria have failed because the Gauteng health department has failed to pay a bill to have them serviced and repaired, the DA claimed on Wednesday.
However, the department has denied the allegation. “There are no machines that have failed. I have checked,” said spokesman Simon Zwane.
He also said the department had made arrangements to pay all of its service providers.
Democratic Alliance Gauteng MP Jack Bloom claimed that the department owed service provider Siemens R120 million for servicing of the four machines.
In a statement, he said Siemens had refused to service and repair the machines since November because of the money it was owed.
“Cancer patients at the 1/8hospital 3/8 are being denied life-saving treatment because all four radiation machines have failed,” said Bloom.
“This is absolutely shocking. What do you tell a patient whose life is in danger because machines don't work?” he asked.
There was also a backlog of 120 patients who needed treatment as no new appointments had been made for the past two weeks, Bloom claimed.
Zwane, meanwhile, countered that patients were under the care of doctors and that if a patient's treatment was postponed it would be for medical reasons.
“Jack Bloom shouldn't pretend to be a doctor. Doctors should be allowed to make medical decisions without pressure from politicians,” he said. - Sapa