New NHLS contract allegedly disrupts blood collection

16 September 2022

Note to editors: Please find attached soundbite by Michele Clarke MP

The DA has submitted written parliamentary questions regarding the collection and transportation of medical samples and specimens in Gauteng.

This after reports of disruptions in the collection and transportation of blood and other medical specimens since the National Health Laboratory Service (NHLS) signed a contract with a new service provider, ZaMlangeni Holdings.

According to reports, drivers from Hartman Emergency Care (HEC) were promised absorption into either the NHLS or ZaMlangeni Holdings. This has reportedly not happened and as a result decades of expertise and institutional knowledge have allegedly been lost, which has a massive impact on Gauteng’s public health care system.

Gauteng’s public health care system already struggles with huge infrastructure, equipment and personnel capacity problems. The Covid-19 pandemic exposed these severe failings. Now, on top of all these issues, patients might not be diagnosed in time, because their medical samples are not transported from clinics and hospitals to laboratories for analysis.

It is time the Gauteng Department of Health stepped in and addressed these concerns.

Issued by Michele Clarke, DA Shadow Minister of Health, 16 September 2022