If the hospital is dirty‚ the patients don’t get better. This is what Buti April believes. April‚ a Livingstone Hospital cleaner‚ is so dedicated to his job that during the recent bus strike he walked to work from KwaDwesi rather than neglect the job he takes very seriously. It was this selfless dedication that saw April take top honours at this week’s hospital excellence awards.April was awarded the Livingstone Hospital CEO’s special award during a ceremony on Wednesday night. Hospital CEO Thulane Madonsela‚ who presented the award to April‚ said he had become aware of the dedicated worker because his section of the hospital‚ the doctors’ boardroom‚ was always absolutely immaculately clean.April said he had once been asked by Madonsela why he worked so hard. “I said this is my job. I work here for eight hours a day.” April‚ who is 47 and a father of three‚ said he had been quite shocked when Madonsela called out his name as the winner of the award. He won a tablet computer and a weekend away at any Protea hotel.“This is a hospital and it must be clean. If it is dirty‚ people will not have hope. If they don’t have hope they will not get better. If it is clean then everybody already feels better‚” he said. Livingstone Hospital matron Tembisa Notshe said that during the recent bus strike she had found out that April was walking to work.“I asked him why and he said before he started working here he didn’t even have money for bus fare‚ so he couldn’t not come to work.” April is now responsible for the cleaning of the emergency department at Livingstone Hospital.His first job at the hospital (in 2009) was to clean the doctors’ boardroom corridor. From the time he took over the area‚ that corridor was always spotless‚ from the floor to the windows and the walls.“He would always be found in his working area‚ constantly cleaning‚” Madonsela said. April said that earlier this year Madonsela had asked him to see if he could handle the cleaning of the very busy accident and emergency unit at the hospital. He was promoted to housekeeper of the unit.“This was at the time when there were numerous complaints from the patients‚ staff and the public about the conditions of that department. This is the busiest area‚ with constant movement of patients and the public. The accident and emergency unit has a daily average patient load of 300‚ with a monthly average of 8000‚” Madonsela said.He said while April’s job was to supervise the cleaning in the department‚ he could often be found doing it himself when there were no staff to do it. “Due to his dedication‚ sense of responsibility and commitment to the task‚ April will often be found doing the cleaning tasks himself.“The emergency department is now an outstanding example of cleanliness in the hospital. This is mentioned regularly in the positive feedback from patients and the public.“April is deserving of the recognition for his dedication‚ leadership qualities and application and his exemplary commitment to his job‚” Madonsela said. - TMG Digital/Weekend Post..