STILL NO PANADO AT BARA HOSPITAL

South Africa's largest hospital still does not have Panado and is short of other medicines even after I raised the alarm about this at the beginning of the year.

I visited the Chris Baragwanath Hospital yesterday and was shocked to discover that plain Panado tablets were not available at the pharmacy.

There was a notice on the pharmacy window giving a whole list of out of stock medicines, including Lenovate, Differin gel, Aqueous cream, Spectrapain, Feldene, Cinnarizine, Calcium Carbonate, Panado and some other medicines (photo below).

A pharmacist told me that they had Panado syrup and Panado combined with Codeine, but not the plain Panado tablets that would be prescribed for most patients.

Non-delivery by unpaid suppliers has been blamed for various shortages, but my assessment is that Bara's hospital management is also to blame for poor stock control.

It's a disgrace that this hospital is short of basic medicine. Top management must be replaced so that the R3.3 billion hospital budget is spent effectively.

Statement by Jack Bloom MPL, DA Caucus Health Spokesman, February 1 2012

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