‘We should settle that invoice’: Phone lines still down at Gauteng hospitals; alternative numbers

Despite earlier promises of resolving the issue of unpaid phone bills, the Gauteng Health Department (GDH) says the phone lines at several of its hospital facilities are still down.

Late last month, Telkom disconnected the phone lines of 83 clinics and 32 hospitals due to what is claimed to be outstanding payments by the department.

Phone lines still down at 11 Gauteng hospitals

A total of 11 hospitals, however, still have to make do without functioning phone lines and adequate channels of communication for family members anxious to know how their loved ones are doing.

The affected hospitals, include:

• Chris Hani Baragwanath Academic Hospital;
• Charlotte Maxeke Johannesburg Academic Hospital;
• Steve Biko Academic Hospital;
• Pretoria West Hospital;
• Jubilee Hospital;
• Carltonville Hospital;
• Tshwane District Hospital;
• Pholosong Hospital;
• Far East Rand Hospital;
• Tara H Moross Psychiatric Hospital and
• Weskoppies Hospital.

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‘Surely it should have been sorted by now?’ – DA

According to Democratic Alliance (DA) Gauteng Shadow MEC for Health, Jack Bloom, the phone debacle has been ongoing for more than five weeks, with staff forced to use their own phones for essential communication.

“According to the department, 32 hospitals and 83 clinics were affected. They claim this is due to disputed Telkom bills, but surely it should have been sorted out by now?

“I suspect they simply ran out of money by the end of the financial year on 31 March,” Bloom said.

“An astounding R2.275 billion overspend is projected despite not meeting key targets, including poor ambulance response times and low child immunisation.”

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Department responds to phone crisis

Responding to the ongoing phone crisis at the province’s hospitals, the GDH spokesperson, Motalatale Modiba, said the department has processed the current invoices for payment before the end of this week.

This despite the fact that “our dispute in relation to identified discrepancies still stands”.

“The issue of the invoices with descriptions of facilities that do not belong to the GDH, is still being pursued with Telkom. Albeit we have resolved that in the interest of facilitating better communication between communities and our facilities, we should settle that invoice while we are pursuing that particular matter,” Modiba further explained. 

As a long-term solution, the department is in the process of migrating its facilities to the Gauteng Provincial Network System operated by the eGovernment Department to reduce costs.

Alternative contact numbers

The GDH has tweeted a statement with alternative contact numbers, see below.

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