New R14 million CT scanner at Prince Mshiyeni Memorial Hospital promises faster patient care
Image: Tumi Pakkies / Independent Newspapers
Prince Mshiyeni Memorial Hospital patients will receive faster and more efficient care now that the KwaZulu-Natal Department of Health has procured a CT scanner worth approximately R14 million.
On Thursday, Health MEC Nomagugu Simelane and several officials were at Prince Mshiyeni Hospital to unveil the R14m state-of-the-art CT scanner.
Simelane expressed her excitement over the CT scan since the old scan, which had been problematic for more than two years, finally gave up in December last year. It was also difficult to get different parts because it was old. This forced the department to discontinue its use and procure a new machine.
The old machine had 16 slices while the new one has 128 slices.
'That impacts the swift response to patients,' Simelane said. 'Allowing more patients to access it, allowing patients to get results as quickly as possible.'
'It is really going to be a game changer for this hospital, considering that this hospital sees over 1,500 patients a day. So you certainly need equipment that's going to allow the hospital to actually do the work in the most efficient way.'
Councilor Zamazulu Sokhabase, KZN Health MEC Nomagugu Simelane, and Prince Mshiyeni Memorial Hospital board deputy Nompumelelo Sithole cutting the ribbon during the unveiling of a new CT scanner on Thursday.
Image: Tumi Pakkies / Independent Newspapers
Simelane said it was not a cheap machine.
'That is why, as a department, we couldn't just outright buy a new machine and replace the old one; we had to try and use it as far as we could.'
She said last year, she received several complaints from patients saying they had been waiting for a CT scan at the hospital, and others said they were turned back because the machine was not working.
'As the healthcare fraternity, we are concerned about the sharp global increase in cancer cases — globally, across the African continent, in South Africa, and right here in KwaZulu-Natal,' Simelane said.
'The importance of early detection cannot be overstated, particularly when it comes to cancer, which is a disease that spreads quickly. Every day counts. Early diagnosis leads to better treatment outcomes. This CT scanner enables quicker detection, faster treatment initiation, and ultimately, better survival rates, especially for cancer patients,' Simelane said.
'So this one is going to be a game changer, and the people who are utilising this facility are going to benefit immensely.
'This is the first for us in the province, and we are going to be rolling it out to other facilities in the rest of the province.'
KZN Health MEC Nomagugu Simelane and officials admire the R14 million 128-slice CT scan at Prince Mshiyeni Memorial Hospital.
Image: Tumi Pakkies/ Independent Newspapers
Devon Harripersad, a sales representative for AXIM, which provides radiological and imaging solutions to Sub-Saharan Africa, said it is a 128-slice machine, meaning that per second, the machine is slicing, taking out X-rays of a patient.
'You can do a full body scan within seconds, which means that your time limit is reduced, the patient number is increased, and you can do many more studies in terms of this new machine,' Harripersad explained.
'This will help alleviate the backlog.'
Harripersad said the machine can be used for cancer and orthopaedics, among others.
He also explained that certain studies require them to inject a patient. It is like a dye, it differentiates all the organs from each other and all the tissues, from bone.
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