DA calls for urgent intervention as biopsy backlog mounts at Johannesburg Lab

The Democratic Alliance (DA) in Gauteng is calling for an immediate intervention from the provincial health department to address what it said are severe delays in biopsy processing at the Joburg Anatomical Pathology Laboratory.

The party has reported that some patients have had to wait up to three months for biopsy results, which were previously available within weeks.

The Johannesburg laboratory, which serves hospitals and clinics across the city, the East, and West Rand, including the Vaal, is currently overwhelmed with 12,000 unprocessed samples, some dating back to 2024. The party further noted that the lab has a massive staff shortage, including a significant reduction in the number of pathologists.

The DA said the situation has caused widespread anxiety for cancer patients, as the prolonged wait means treatment is delayed.

DA Gauteng Shadow MEC, Jack Bloom, said the situation is unacceptable.

"The DA is deeply alarmed at the massive backlogs for processing cancer biopsies at the Johannesburg laboratory. We call on the Health MEC to intervene, we'll be asking questions in Parliament because people are dying because samples for breast cancer are taking weeks to return and this prejudices survival chances of cancer patients."

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