675 Bara hospital beds donated to NGOs

18 July 2019

675 beds have been donated to NGOs following the public outcry in May this year when a video of hundreds of beds rusting in the open at the Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital went viral on social media.

This information has been revealed by Gauteng Health MEC Bandile Masuku in a written reply to my questions in the Gauteng Legislature.

According to Bandile there were 1 000 beds stored outside from January to July this year. This was because “the storage space available was not enough to keep all beds enclosed due to the high number of beds.”

He said that hospital management took this decision as “the beds were assessed and found not to be fit for purpose in the hospital.”

After the video went viral “various NGOs” got 675 beds, and 325 beds were condemned.

I am pleased that NGOs got these beds instead of the wasteful original plan of hospital management. I suspect that more beds could have been donated in good condition but deteriorated in the sun and rain.

The Gauteng Health Department needs to look after all its assets and make plans to sell or donate anything that it no longer finds useful.

Issued by Jack Bloom, DA Gauteng Shadow Health MEC, 18 July 2019