Pretoria – Flawed procurement processes, wasteful expenditure on construction, unpaid staff and neglect of patients are some the problems that have plagued hospitals in the city.
This emerged yesterday when Public Protector Advocate Busisiwe Mkhwebane inspected three hospitals in Tshwane.
She and an entourage of inspectors from her office started their tour at Jubilee Hospital in Hammanskraal.
They also went to Dr George Mukhari Academic Hospital and Steve Biko Academic Hospital. During the visit, some staff members were caught ill-treating patients.
“Hospitals are meant to be a place where the sickly get treated with love, but today we have witnessed something else which we will urgently address with the health authority,” Mkhwebane said.
She said healthcare workers on the Covid-19 frontline told her a grim story of death and a scarcity of lifesaving medical supplies, such as Personal Protective Equipment (PPE).
During the visit, it emerged that some healthcare workers had refused to use refuse bags in the absence of protective equipment.
“It's clear that during a time when supplies are needed most, our healthcare workers don't have enough to protect themselves and provide patients with the best possible care,” Mkhwebane said.
“But the most concerning part at both Jubilee and George Mukhari was the elongated process of construction. Both hospitals are busy with construction on site, which was meant to be long overdue,” she said.
Both hospitals have unfinished construction sites which are costing more by the day as some materials become unusable.
“Everyone knows that the longer the construction, the more the money, because material gets dilapidated and has to be replaced, or the construction company pulls out with half a job done, and another company has to be appointed which costs more money from the public purse,” Mkhwebane said.
Her office would discuss their findings with the offices of Health Minister Dr Zweli Mkhize and acting MEC Jacob Mamabolo in the coming weeks, she said.
“We are not here to police people, but in fact, here to lend a hand where they (health authorities) might have overlooked things.”
At Dr George Mukhari Hospital, Mamabolo assured nurses who were appointed on Covid-19 contracts that their salaries would be processed by the end of this month.
Reports surfaced at the weekend that at least 80 Covid-19 contract nurses at the hospital had not been paid their July salaries.
Mamabolo directed the department to compile a consolidated report on Covid-19 human resource-related issues at all facilities by the end of this week to ensure that health workers were not inconvenienced any further.
The provincial Department of Health appointed over 681 nurses during this financial year to augment its workforce as part of the coronavirus response.
R500 million has been budgeted for contracting various categories of workers across all institutions, inclusive of all categories of nurses.
“It is simply unacceptable that workers are not paid. We cannot expect front-line workers to lead the fight against the coronavirus, while on the other hand, we are letting them down in terms of their remuneration,” Mamabolo said.
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Pretoria News