From at least as far back as 2017, officials in Gauteng have known that hospitals in the province are unsafe, but little has been done to remedy the situation.
The provincial government admitted in early March that it had not made much progress in addressing concerns it raised regarding the safety standards at 32 hospitals in the province.
This comes about two years after, during a presentation to the Gauteng legislature’s health committee in 2019, the provincial health department revealed that 32 hospitals needed R6bn to make them compliant with the Occupational Health and Safety Act.
Charlotte Maxeke Academic Hospital, which was gutted by fire on April 16, was on that list, along with Chris Hani Baragwanath and George Mukhari hospitals.
A report presented to the legislature in March reveals that of these identified 32 hospitals, some sort of progress has been made at only two of them – the critical repairs project at Chris Hani Baragwanath and the construction of psychiatric wards at Charlotte Maxeke. The report highlights that when it comes to occupational health and safety, work at 10 hospitals, including Charlotte Maxeke, still has not been done.
“Project documentation has reached the stage for tender advertising,” the March 2021 infrastructure report reads.
The report adds that construction at 10 hospitals – considered priority projects – will not commence this year, as it is not yet funded.
In 2017, then health MEC Dr Gwen Ramokgopa revealed the majority of the province’s healthcare facilities were unsafe. At the time, Ramokgopa said health facilities inspected by the labour department for biohazards and other safety issues in the previous three years had failed to meet required standards.
The infrastructure report shared by the department with the health committee in the Gauteng legislature on March 5 paints a grim picture on the lack of response to the red flag raised years ago.
The report gives details about the OHS programme initiated by the department to improve the health and safety of the 32 hospitals.
“Ten priority hospitals were identified, consisting of five identified by the premier and five identified by MEC of health. In addition to the 10 facilities ... four hospitals were later added to the list. Thelle Mogoerane Hospital was removed from the list due to ongoing structural investigation,” reads the report, meaning 13 facilities have been targeted for work.
However, no work has been done – and the department said its plans were derailed by Covid-19.
According to the document, the programme is in the recovery stage, with all 13 facilities progressed to the tender or awarding stage.
In a subtopic titled “Building towards health and safe working environment”, the health infrastructure branch says health and safety are conscious aspirations for any infrastructure project. It highlights its aims to ensure buildings are designed to comply and receive occupation certification, and ensure compliance with all regulations, including fire regulations.
The health infrastructure branch says it aims to rectify the conditions of hospitals and clinics in the province. No deadline for this is provided in the report.
The document says testing for compliance is not a one-off event but continues as the use of electricity changes in buildings.
The report highlights that the role of infrastructure management is to address safety issues raised by committees with responses to dangers posed by the conditions of the buildings through repairs, maintenance, improved ventilation and improved physical security measures.
Repeated requests for comment from the Gauteng infrastructure development department received no response. The provincial health department also failed to respond to questions.
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