The backlog of medical procedures to be performed in state hospitals currently stands at 175 000, and the FF Plus confronted the Minister of Health, Joe Phaahla, about this shocking situation yesterday.
The party strongly condemned government's incompetence during a session of the Portfolio Committee on Health.
The scope of the backlog is so vast that it may take decades to catch up.
The backlog in appointing doctors and nurses must also be urgently addressed.
Comprehensive plans are needed to ensure that medical procedures are performed frequently, because it is a matter of life or death for some patients.
Government itself caused the crisis during the Covid period, when all medical procedures were put on hold. It has plunged South Africa into this desperate and chaotic situation.
The FF Plus suggested that maybe the Minister and Members of Parliament ought to make use of state hospitals themselves.
Then they too can know what it feels like to wait up to seven years for a hip replacement and endure the related pain. Chances are that then the problem will be resolved very quickly.
The ruling party that brought this chaos about now wants to implement the National Health Insurance (NHI) amid all the disorder, which will only lead to more chaos and disorder.
The country's healthcare system will only improve once a competent government that cares for all its people comes into power. South Africa deserves better than the ANC.
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