The Democratic Alliance (DA) on Monday put the spotlight on emergency health services saying Gauteng needs as many as 700 ambulances but only 114 new ambulances would be bought in 2017.

DA MEC Jack Bloom said at a presentation on Friday by Gauteng Emergency Medical Services (GEMS) it emerged that the target was 1 474 ambulances for Gauteng, but there were only 773 at the moment.

“The plan is to buy 114 ambulances this year, but 110 ambulances were disposed of last year due to accidents, high mileage and high cost to repair, so the total number of ambulances barely increases,” said Bloom.

The MEC said ideally 33% of the ambulance fleet had to be replaced every year to prevent high mileage and maintenance costs.

“The number of dispatched emergency cases has nearly doubled from an average of 13,965 cases per month in 2015 to 26,063 cases per month this year,” Bloom said.

He said the GEMS budget for 2017 was R1.175-billion, however, R223-million of the budget would be used to pay debts from the previous year.

“It is unclear where the money will come from for the projected overspend this year of R218-million,” Bloom said.

The DA MEC said other problems included makeshift EMS facilities, inadequate wash bays and sluice rooms, as well as a shortage of qualified paramedics.

“It is distressing that the emergency services are in such poor shape as slow response times increase the risk of death,” Bloom said.

“Better management of the available budget is needed, including contracts with private ambulances to provide a better service.”