The Cancer Alliance, alongside Section27 and 10 other organisations, is considering further legal options following the Gauteng Department of Health's (GDoH) abrupt cessation of R784 million in radiation oncology services intended for patients in the province.

This decision comes after the GDoH announced it would appeal a recent Johannesburg High Court judgment that ruled in favour of the Cancer Alliance regarding these essential services.

Last Thursday, the Johannesburg High Court issued a ruling that welcomed the Cancer Alliance's case against the GDoH, declaring the department's failure to provide life-saving radiation oncology services to patients on the backlog list as unlawful and unconstitutional.

The case centres on the GDoH's alleged neglect of over 3 000 patients who have been waiting for these services for more than three years, despite an allocation of R784 million by Gauteng Treasury in March 2023 to address the backlog urgently.

The two parties and other litigants have reported that this court judgment follows years of attempts to negotiate and engage with the department over the provision of oncology services to scores of patients.

The court's acting Judge Stephen van Nieuwenhuizen stated: "The provincial health respondents have done nothing meaningful since the money was allocated in March 2023 to actually provide radiation oncology treatment to the cancer patients. On the other hand, the health and general well-being of the cancer patients have significantly deteriorated. There is a clear, imminent, and ongoing irreparable harm that cancer patients who are on the backlog list are suffering."

The court ordered the GDoH to update the backlog list within 45 days and to submit a report detailing its progress in providing radiation oncology services to cancer patients within three months of the order.

However, in a statement on Wednesday, the department said it was taking legal action against the judgment, with spokesperson Motalatale Modiba, saying it has filed a notice of application for leave to appeal due to several substantive grounds for appeal.

Modiba said if these concerns are left unaddressed, they may have severe consequences for patients receiving radiation oncology services at Gauteng hospitals.

"The department is confident in the robustness of the judiciary and is of the view that the appeal process will allow for numerous issues raised in the matter to be sufficiently addressed. We remain committed to fulfilling our constitutional mandate to ensure access to healthcare for all," he stated.

Responding to the department's intention to appeal this ruling, on Thursday, Cancer Alliance's Salome Meyer stated: "We are meeting with our legal team soon to assess our options in these circumstances. We will advise on the next step as soon as possible."

Meanwhile, the DA, through its shadow MEC for Health in the province, Jack Bloom, slammed the department for its intention to appeal the High Court ruling.

"The DA in Gauteng condemns the Gauteng Health Department’s decision to appeal the High Court judgment that its treatment of cancer patients is unlawful and unconstitutional. This will further delay the urgent need to drastically reduce the backlog of cancer patients who need radiation therapy.

"It is undeniable that the Department failed to spend R250 million in 2023/24 to save the lives of cancer patients, and it has not fully spent the R261 million budgeted for radiation treatment in the financial year which ended last month," Bloom stated.

siyabonga.sithole@inl.co.za

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Cancer Alliance fights back as Gauteng Health appeals ruling on R784m oncology services