Water woes and low temperatures cut ops in Gauteng hospitals
17 July 2023
More than a hundred operations were cancelled in three major Gauteng hospitals last week - in one case because of a water cut-off, a flooding in another case, and also a heating failure in operating theatres.
At the Helen Joseph Hospital, surgical instruments could not be sterilised because the autoclaves had no steam due to the water shortage.
On Friday last week, about 30 operations at the Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital (CHBH) were cancelled because the main theatre complex was flooded.
And many operations were cancelled at the Charlotte Maxeke Johannesburg Hospital as temperatures in the theatres were too low due to a heating system failure.