Pay suppliers, Gauteng told

2009-12-08 18:03

Johannesburg - The SA Medical Association (Sama) on Tuesday called on the health minister and government to pay outstanding hospital suppliers in Gauteng so that services were not disrupted.

"The South African Medical Association notes with concern the continuous shortage of surgical and medical supplies at several hospitals in Gauteng province, apparently due to non-payment of vendors by the provincial government," it said in a statement.

"Lack of basic items such as plaster-of-paris and other life-saving tools have become the norm in hospitals including the Chris Hani Baragwanath and Charlotte Maxeke Johannesburg Academic hospitals.

"The state of affairs in these hospitals is not acceptable and cannot be allowed to persist."

Sama said the centralisation of procurement under the Gauteng Shared Services Scheme (GSSS) is a "huge impediment" towards filling of vacant posts, purchase of medical and surgical equipment as well as other supplies for hospitals and clinics in the province.

It also suggested disbanding or radically restructuring the GSSS and allocating budgets to individual hospitals to enable them to plan and prioritise their spending based on their needs-analyses.
 

- SAPA