The South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) on Thursday said progress had been made by the KwaZulu-Natal Department of Health in implementing the commission’s recommendations on the state of oncology in the province.
This followed a site inspection at Addington Hospital by provincial officials. The delegation was met by hospital CEO Mthetheleli Ndlangisa and the head of the Oncology Unit, Thabisile Hlengwa.
The commission noted that, in complying with its recommendations, the department had successfully repaired one Linear Accelerator (VRALA) machine.
"The Commission can confirm that the first patient was treated on the 5th June 2018, using this machine.
"In addition, some of the staff members from Addington Hospital, who were stationed at Inkosi Albert Luthuli Central Hospital, have returned to Addington Hospital in order to provide services to oncology patients," the commission said.
The hospital had also secured the services of one oncologist. It would also continue with the public–private partnership (PPP) agreement with Wits Consortium which supplies oncology services to the hospital on a weekly basis.
The commission said it was happy that the national government was involved in addressing critical issues of access to health care and would like to urge the KwaZulu-Natal health department to speed up the implementation of the remaining recommendations.
The SAHRC said it would continue monitoring the hospitals and the oncology situation in KwaZulu-Natal and other provinces to ensure that the right to access health care services was promoted and protected.
On Thursday, the commission visited Charlotte Maxeke Academic Hospital in Johannesburg for a site inspection, following several reports that there was a shortage of radiation oncologists in the hospital's oncology ward.