Following his suspension for blowing the whistle on atrocious conditions that doctors have to work under at Rahima Moosa Mother and Child Hospital in Coronationville, Dr Tim de Maayer is back at work.
Earlier on Friday Gauteng health MEC, Dr Nomathemba Mokheti, said she would probe the decision taken by the hospital’s management. After meeting with De Maayer, head of department of pediatrics and child health professor Ashraf Coovadia, and hospital CEO Dr Nozuko Mkabayi, Mokgethi said the suspension had been lifted.
“The meeting was fruitful and the matter has been resolved amicably,” she said in a statement, noting that the hospital management also agreed to address the concerning issues raised by De Maayer in an open letter that led to his suspension.
In a letter titled SA Hospitals: The Sickening Truth, De Maayer addresses a number of challenges.
It reads: “How do you manage to come to work everyday failing at your job of ensuring basic healthcare for the people you serve and still sleep at night? How about excluding the mother and child hospitals from your load-shedding schedule?
“I could go on, but I want to pose some questions to you: would you admit your own child to this hospital? Having worked in the public sector for 21 years, I can tell you frankly, things are falling apart.”
De Maayer also touched on a number of issues including generators that were inadequately sized to supply the hospital with power when blackouts hit, and constant water cuts that lead to the spread of infections. The toilets are also in a deplorable state, he alleged.
Among other injustices, there have been numerous reports in the past few years of pregnant women having to sleep on the floor in the wards of the hospital.
De Maayer’s suspension led to widespread criticism by his colleagues and members of the public. Doctors at the hospital expressed their solidarity with De Maayer by wearing black to work on Friday.
They also said his suspension could be felt the most by the patients, especially children, who desperately needed his services everyday. A petition demanding that the suspension be lifted had also garnered thousands of signatures by Friday.
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