THE heads of department at the Port Elizabeth Hospital Complex will have a say in the way the hospitals are run, the complex’s acting chief executive officer, Dr Ntombi Qangule, said yesterday.
She said a clinical governance committee would be formed, allowing doctors to take part in operational decision-making.
The complex, consisting of the Livingstone, Dora Nginza and Provincial hospitals, remains short of at least 28 doctors who have left since the beginning of the year.
Qangule said there were still some departmental processes to be followed before the 28 posts were filled and that services would remain "down-scaled”, concentrating on emergencies and lifesaving operations for the time being.
Elective surgeries were cut by 25% this month due to a dire shortage of anaesthetists, maternal health and cardiac clinics in rural areas were suspended until there are sufficient doctors to provide the services, and all combined ear, nose and throat (mainly oncological) surgeries were suspended.
Paediatric services were scaled down and outpatient and specialist clinic services were also reduced.
