{
  "id": 1712538,
  "title": "Gauteng health disputes 2023 Tambo Memorial Hospital stoma bag shortage ever happened",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/18/gauteng-health-disputes-2023-tambo-memorial-hospital-stoma-bag",
  "topic": "health",
  "section": "Health & Medicine",
  "published": "2026-08-18T12:41:56.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "The Citizen",
    "slug": "the-citizen",
    "url": "https://www.citizen.co.za/news/gauteng-health-disputes-2023-tambo-memorial-hospital-stoma-bag-shortage-ever-happened/"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Gauteng's Department of Health has dismissed claims of a stoma bag shortage at Tambo Memorial Hospital, asserting that no private contractor was implicated and that no shortage transpired in 2023. The department asserted it had no documentation of patients requisitioning their own supplies. They disputed correspondence indicating a stoma bag shortage in 2023, including a nurse's claim in May 2023 that the hospital lacked stoma bags. The department's spokesperson, Steve Mabona, maintained that the shortage occurred only in July 2026 and had been rectified. He also refuted claims that a private supplier distributed ten bags per patient through a liaison coordinator. The department clarified that hospital procurement and distribution remain internal responsibilities, with the nurse not responsible for procuring or allocating stoma bags. They denied the patient self-funding stoma bags due to supply inconsistencies and stated no current shortages existed at Tembisa and Sebokeng hospitals. The department's assertion of a temporary shortage resolved by July 2026 contradicts a nurse's statement that bags were borrowed from another hospital, and a dispute over stoma bag quality and specification.",
  "summary": "Gauteng health spokesperson Steve Mabona maintains that there was only a July shortage, which has since been resolved.",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}