Pretoria – The Gauteng Department of Health says over the past three years, the Tembisa Provincial Tertiary Hospital’s (TPTH) neonatal and maternity wards have delivered 50 661 babies.
Of the more than 50 000 babies, the provincial authorities said 17 122 were delivered in 2020/21, while 17 054 were delivered in 2021/22 and 16 485 in 2022/23.
The statistics were revealed by Gauteng MEC for Health and Wellness Nomantu Nkomo-Ralehoko while responding to questions at the Gauteng Provincial Legislature on Tuesday.
Gauteng Health spokesperson Motalatale Modiba said: “Sadly, some of the babies, 1.5%, demised (passed on) in the past three years (237 in 2020/21, 271 in 2021/22 and 280 in 2022/23) due to infections, immaturity-related causes, hypoxia, congenital anomalies and other causes.
“Despite neonatal and maternity staff members responding to an overwhelming influx of patients, the team has worked tirelessly to ensure a 98.5% successful delivery rate. MEC Nkomo-Ralehoko gave an assurance that issues of resource challenges such as staff and equipment shortages at the facility have been prioritised.
“To augment existing posts, the facility has now filled 25 of the 32 posts that were recently advertised. Fifteen professional nurses and 10 enrolled nurses started work on June 1, 2023. Three posts of enrolled nursing assistants are in the process of being filled, with job adverts having closed last month, while TPTH is working on attracting four specialty nurses.”
He said in addition to the mentioned funded posts, the institution has submitted a motivation to create more posts in order for the hospital to be aligned with a tertiary facility human resources structure.
“Furthermore, in a bid to improve quality of care at Tembisa hospital’s neonatal and maternity department, equipment like EEG machines, MRI scanners and ultrasound machines with cranial and cardiac probes have been included in the 2023/24 demand plan and National Tertiary Services Grant business plan,” said Modiba.
“The hospital continues to ensure that the procurement of medical consumables, which requires regular stock, is ongoing.”
In a bid to address overcrowding at the Tembisa Provincial Tertiary Hospital, in March, the Gauteng MEC for Health, Nomantu-Nkomo Ralehoko, announced the procurement of 36 additional beds for the embattled hospital.
This was confirmed in a statement to the media, with Modiba saying these beds would go a long way in resolving the bed crisis at the hospital.
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