MEC knew at the weekend about food supply problems at Bara hospital

Poor contract management and not enough cold storage capacity at the Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital in Soweto are two of the problems that contributed to the shortage of food at the hospital.  

Addressing the media after a site visit, Gauteng health and wellness MEC Nomantu Nkomo-Ralehoko said she was made aware of the shortage at the weekend.  

“I was made aware by the hospital management of the challenges and inconsistency when it comes to the supply of groceries at [the hospital] and the contingencies that they had put in place to ensure that patients’ meals continued to be provided,” she said.  

This follows the Daily Maverick report on Monday about the hospital’s serious food shortages. The publication said the breakdown in certain food supplies was forcing doctors and nurses to “make a plan” to feed patients.

“This afternoon as part of my regular service delivery oversight visits to our health facilities, I had an opportunity to engage with the team here at the hospital on a number of matters including the burning issue of the allegations of essential food shortage in the facility,” she said.

She said she was well aware that around this time last year, towards the end of the financial year, the department faced similar challenges. 

Nkomo-Ralehoko said her team had established the systemic issues that contributed to the situation, based on the report obtained from hospital managers. These include:

• Contract management — Poor contract management and escalation of challenges.
• Cold storage — The hospital does not have enough cold storage capacity to enable food to be procured in large quantities.
• Capacity of suppliers — Some of the suppliers are over-contracted and cannot keep up with the demands in terms of the orders being made. This relates to the appointment of multiple suppliers instead of contracting one supplier for multiple items, which they end up not being able to deliver.

She said the department would review the problem so that their services are not compromised by the appointment of service providers who do not have the required capacity. 

“I need to reiterate once more that from the update received we can confirm that while the situation at Bara is not ideal, there is no patient who went a day without receiving meals. As things stand, all meals have been provided to date, including special meals.”

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