Charlotte Maxeke Johannesburg Academic Hospital (CMJAH) procured two linear accelerator machines which will decrease the waiting time for cancer patients, the Gauteng Department of Health said in a statement on Thursday.
The two machines, procured at a value of R105 million, impacted positively on about 71 cancer patients treated during the period of December 2019 to February 2020.
"These new machines will also assist in terms of reducing the waiting list for cancer patients at CMJAH," said spokesperson Kwara Kekana.
The new machines were acquired after the previous machines needed to be replaced on 13 May 2019, and were decommissioned from September 2019 until November 2019.
"The staff has undergone an intensive training programme to familiarise themselves with the new state-of-the-art technology," said Kekana.
In a bid to further improve the quality of healthcare in the province, the department also procured two additional cancer machines, at a value of R52 million, to replace the old machines.
These machines will be delivered in the second week of March.
Several other measures had also been put in place to improve the treatment of cancer patients at CMJAH, including:
- Extending working hours from 07h30-16h00 to 07h00-20h00 with effect from Monday.
- Collaborating with Steve Biko Academic Hospital to accommodate their cancer patients.
- Offering sessional hours to private practitioners.
- CMJAH will collaborate with Klerksdorp Hospital to take some of the cervical cancer patients to address the backlog as of March 2020. This will see close to 80 patients being treated by July 2020.