Di Caelers: The Cape Argus

THE public sector strike is putting pressure on intensive care and neo-natal beds at private hospitals, which have stepped up to help relieve the pressure on public hospitals, short-staffed as a result of the industrial action. But the Hospital Association of SA, which represents 94% of the country's private hospitals, says they are still identifying beds for state patients where and when possible. Although there is no specific breakdown of help being afforded in the Western Cape, spokespersons for both Netcare and Medi-Clinic said although the demand here was lower than in KwaZulu-Natal, local private hospitals were taking in patients according to demand. Medi-Clinic, according to its operations director Koert Pretorius, has admitted nearly 100 public sector patients for treatment since the start of the strike on June 1.

He said that Medi-Clinic supported the Department of Health in its quest to limit mortality rates by treating patients who had been referred by public hospitals, adding that the group's staff were not participating in the strike action. Netcare reported it has set up a national centre through its 911 emergency number to log calls for assistance and determine available capacity in its hospitals. Meanwhile, provincial health department spokeswoman Faiza Steyn said emergency surgery only was being carried out in most of its health institutions yesterday, although some planned procedures were being done as and where staff were available. Generally, since the start of the strike, operations had been continuing as normal, except at Tygerberg Hospital where reportedly only emergency surgery had been done for the entire week. Kurt Worrall-Clare, chief executive of the Hospital Association of SA, said they had, with the national Health Department, co-ordinated their efforts in a bid to ensure that patients unable to get treatment from the state would be treated in either private or military hospitals. Regional efforts were being co-ordinated on a provincial basis. Worrall-Clare said the private hospital industry believed it had a moral and ethical obligation to help assure the treatment of patients and, to date, "several hundred" patients had been admitted to private hospitals across the country. He said that patients had been arriving at private hospitals requesting medical treatment and that each case was assessed and treated on its individual merits.