Gauteng Doctors’ Struggle in COVID “Fever Tents”
Angry doctors have opened up concerning recent images of severely ill patients at Steve Biko Academic Hospital (SBAH) being treated in tents amid pouring rain. These images came as David Makhura and MEC for Health Dr Nomathemba Mokgethi visited the hospital on Monday.
Speaking on condition of anonymity, two doctors at SBAH spoke to Daily Maverick about the reality of the situation. The doctors described a desperate situation of overwhelmed facilities, with patients possibly dying as much from the cold and rain as from untreated COVID – or indeed, a condition that presents similarly to COVID.
The image presented to the public by the government is “smoke and mirrors”, said Dr Felicia (not her real name). “This is a show. They [health officials] are lying to you people. They are lying. They are covering it up,” she said.”Fever tents” have been set up outside the Emergency Department, where patients remain while they are being screened for COVID. If they test negative, they are admitted to SBAH If they test positive, they are sent to Tshwane District Hospital.”
According to Dr Felicia, conditions in the tents are abysmal. “There is no nursing, there is no oxygen or beds in these tents. There is no oxygen in the tanks, we actually just do 10 minutes of CPR and many times we don’t have PPE to do it in.”
As infections continue to rise in South Africa, approaching 250 000 active cases, hospitals are buckling under the pressure, and doctors are expecting the worst to come.
Dr Monica (not her real name) spoke of her feelings of the situation. “I don’t feel like I am being protected by our hospital right now. I am running around like a chicken without a head. I feel very hopeless. I feel like I should not care anymore. Caring is actually just hurting me and the patients because instead of me doing what I said I was going to do when I left medicine, I am treating these people like numbers. Someone dies and you have to shrug your shoulders and move on to the next. There is not even a minute to mourn a person or to figure out what went wrong. I feel completely hopeless,” she said.
Dr Monica said people need to stop politicising the pandemic, and get the hospitals the resources they need. She also implored the reporters to convey their message. “Tell the people out there, this is serious. They must wear masks, they must social distance,” she said, breaking off and running to attend to a patient.
Source: Daily Maverick