Cancer treatment interrupted for hundreds after Eastern Cape health department fails to pay medication bills

The cancer treatment of hundreds of patients, including children, has been interrupted after the Eastern Cape Department of Health failed to pay suppliers for chemotherapy drugs.

The province’s MEC for Health, Ntandokazi Capa, has promised that outstanding bills will be paid immediately, but patients have already been turned away and treatments halted.

Desperate doctors have been forced to make decisions about who receives chemotherapy and who does not, with some oncology units left with only a single vial of the potentially life-saving treatment.

Medical staff said that as their urgent emails went unanswered, they spent the whole of Sunday frantically trying to borrow, exchange or buy chemotherapy medication from private pharmacists to avoid interrupting treatment for hundreds of patients.

The South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) has launched an investigation into the repeated interruptions of cancer treatment for public healthcare patients in the Eastern Cape due to unpaid accounts.

Dr Eileen Carter from the SAHRC said the Democratic Alliance (DA) had laid a complaint with them about the matter.

“We have opened an investigation into the allegations received. It will now be undertaken as per our complaints handling processes,” she said.

“This is no longer a cash flow problem. It is a gross violation of human rights,” said the DA’s spokesperson for health in the province, Jane Cowley.

“This ongoing crisis is not only jeopardising the physical health of cancer patients but is also taking a severe toll on their emotional and mental wellbeing.

Read more: Godongwana’s Budget promises improved funding for the health sector — but is it enough? 

“How does one explain to the mother of a 14-year-old boy that his treatment cannot continue because the department’s non-payment has led the supplier to close their account? How does a doctor respond to a heartfelt letter from a 33-year-old woman, diagnosed with a curable form of Hodgkin lymphoma, who is begging for treatment so she can raise her three-year-old child?

Impossible choices

“These are the impossible choices our healthcare workers are forced to face daily. Meanwhile, senior officials sit comfortably in air-conditioned offices, use state-owned vehicles for private errands and continue to protect a bloated payroll of politically connected individuals in non-essential posts,” said Cowley.

Read more: Gauteng high court orders urgent action to address cancer treatment backlog in public hospitals

The Eastern Cape health department spokesperson, Sizwe Kupelo, acknowledged systemic problems in the public health sector, including the lack of permanent CEOs at Livingstone and Port Elizabeth Provincial hospitals in Gqeberha.

“But we are busy conducting interviews now,” he said.

Read more: Eastern Cape Health MEC breaks promise to appoint CEOs for all major state hospitals 

The hospitals last had permanent CEOs in 2018, when unions ran the management teams out of the facilities.

Kupelo said MEC Capa had stepped in to ensure that R200-million was set aside for specialist medicines, including cancer treatment.

Read more: World Cancer Day highlights South Africa’s huge challenges with care

“The department wishes to confirm allocation of R200-million for the procurement of essential specialist medicines, including for cancer treatment. R43-million of this allocation will be utilised in paying pharmaceutical companies for cancer medicines that were owed from the last financial year. This payment is expected to be effected this week.

“Availability of all categories of essential medicines in all our health facilities is a priority, and every year, the department budgets over R2-billion for this purpose. We have strengthened our distribution plan, and our main medicine depots are strategically positioned to supply the entire province. These are the PE medical depot in Gqeberha and Mthatha medical depot in the OR Tambo district,” said Kupelo.

He said cancer patients were receiving their treatment even though alternative medication had to be administered in some cases.

“This week, the department is expecting additional stock from Adcock Health, Fresenius (Kabi), Kiara and Macleods,” he added.

He said two chief directors had been assigned to Gqeberha to accelerate service delivery at Livingstone and Dora Nginza hospitals. 

“The MEC gave a clear message to her management. She was there. She received the problems. She has given them until the end of the month to implement the decisions they have taken.

“You don’t want to run away from a big elephant,” he said. “Hospital management knows that the lack of a district hospital makes things difficult in the metro, as specialist hospitals must act as a district hospital.”

Kupelo said the province’s health facilities treated 1.6 million patients a month and were acutely aware that they could not fail their patients. DM