R111 MILLION UNSPENT AS MAINTENANCE DIVES IN GAUTENG HOSPITALS
Only R2.87 million out of a budget of R113.7 million was spent on maintenance in Gauteng hospitals for the period October to December last year. This shock figure is revealed in the Third Quarter Performance Report of the Gauteng Department of Infrastructure Development tabled recently in the Gauteng Legislature.
It is utterly incredible that R111 million was unspent when hospitals face equipment failures and huge maintenance backlogs. According to a report by the Gauteng Health Department more than R250 million of quotations were sent to DID Central Office for approvals and issuing of purchase orders, but these were not issued due to the withdrawal of delegations.
The whole process of requesting for new quotations had to be re-started. This is pathetic bureaucratic nonsense. Staff and patients at hospitals suffer because of this ridiculous red tape.
It highlights the problem of maintenance being done by a separate department rather than by hospitals themselves. In the past three months the following incidents have occurred:
- Broken cooling unit at Tembisa Hospitals led to all non-urgent surgery cancelled for two months
- Leaking pipes and autoclaves failed at Rahima Moosa Hospital
- Sewerage flowing into corridors of Helen Joseph Hospital
- Operating table broken for two weeks at Kalafong hospital
- Faulty heater nearly closes the antenatal ICU at Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital as ventilators flood
- Six lifts still broken at Charlotte Maxeke Johannesburg Hospital
- Foul odour at Tambo Memorial Hospital as pipes burst
- Patients turned away as CAT Scans at Baragwanath break down continually
This week operations were cancelled at Helen Joseph Hospital because there was no anaesthetic gas and instruments could not be sterilized as the boiler broke down.
Someone should be fired for this immense foul-up of unspent money.
Statement issued by Jack Bloom MPL, DA Gauteng Health Spokesman, February 10 2011
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