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- Doctors Without Borders has been supporting Livingstone Hospital since June.
- It said understaffing in the hospital's Covid-19 ward was an issue, and it was unsustainable for the hospital to rely on external help.
- The Eastern Cape health department said it had met with concerned clinicians at the hospital to better understand the issues they faced.
Doctors Without Borders (MSF) has called on the Eastern Cape Department of Health to better staff Livingstone Hospital, saying it is unsustainable for the hospital to continue to rely on external support.
MSF doctors have supported the hospital's primary Covid-19 ward since 29 June, and throughout all three Covid-19 waves.
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MSF teams worked specifically in the basement ward - a hospital car park turned into a Covid-19 centre during the second and third waves.
"A team of MSF doctors and nurses will continue to offer support in the basement ward in September, but this support has to be supplementary.
"It is not sustainable for the hospital to continue to rely on external support to the extent that it has.
"MSF acknowledges the rostering of DoH [Department of Health] doctors for this ward from 30 August - this will go some way toward ensuring that more beds can be used in the basement ward, taking pressure off other parts of the hospital," said Brett Sandler, MSF's emergency co-ordinator.
'Overstretched team'
According to MSF, the ward has a 70-bed capacity and, when sufficiently staffed, had the ability to care for most of the hospital's Covid-19 patients.
"However, two doctors made available to the ward by the DoH both left for posts elsewhere in July, leaving MSF doctors working at the peak of the third wave alongside a courageous but overstretched team of DoH nurses, consultants, physiotherapists and nutritionists," it said in a statement this week.
MSF added the staff shortage meant the ward only functioned at 60% of its capacity.
Dr Rosie Burton, a senior clinician at MSF said:
"Because all the beds in the basement ward cannot be used, patients are now backed up in the emergency department or referred to other wards, not all of which have optimal care for Covid-19 patients or access to high levels of oxygen, which is essential for patients severely ill with Covid-19 pneumonia," added Burton.
MSF said it would continue to support the hospital through September because of the high admission levels.
Eastern Cape health head Dr Rolene Wagner said the department engaged with concerned clinicians at Livingstone last week to better understand the issues they faced and to get their input on the changes they think should be made.
"It was reiterated that the department greatly appreciated the heroic efforts of our frontline teams and that we remain committed to building a cohesive and collaborative health system in the metro.
"We are still involved in the process of engagement following our session last Friday evening and will be widening this engagement as we move toward a shared understanding and consensus on the situation in the metro."
Wagner added the Nelson Mandela Bay Metro had seen a decrease in the seven days moving average in week 34 compared to the preceding week, as well as a less than 10% increase in active cases per 100 000 cases.
"The positivity rate remains high and, though we are hopeful that the wave is flattening in the bay area, we caution and encourage all citizens to continue to wear masks, sanitise their hands regularly, practice cough etiquette, avoid crowds and confined spaces, ensuring good natural ventilation, and adhere to the Covid-19 regulations," she said, adding hospital admissions in the public and private sector remained steady.
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