675 hospital beds dumped at Chris Hani Baragwanath donated to NGOs

Gauteng's health department has donated 675 beds to various NGOs after they were spotted outside Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital.  

The fate of the beds was revealed by newly elected provincial health MEC Dr Bandile Masuku in a written reply to the DA's shadow MEC of health in the Gauteng legislature.

According to Masuku, there were 1,000 beds stored outside the facility between January and July because "the storage space available was not enough to keep all beds enclosed due to the high number of beds". 

Masuku said a decision to donate the beds was taken by the hospital as they were found not to be fit for purpose in the hospital.

"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 they deteriorated in the sun and rain," said Masuku. 

The remaining 325 beds could not be donated because of their poor condition.

Bloom said the department needed to look after its assets and put in place mechanisms to either sell or donate assets that proved to be useless.