The DA will write a letter to the Member of the Mayoral Committee in Ekurhuleni, Heather Heart, in order to request, for the City Planning Department to conduct a compliance inspection to check whether OR Tambo hospital is in compliance with the Cities building regulations and by-laws. Five years ago, the province embarked on a project to replace the hospital but the project never got off the ground due to financial constraints.
The plans were passed, however, till date, the project never came to fruition due to funding constraints. Last week, the DA Shadow Minister of Health, Michele Clarke, and the DA Deputy Shadow Minister of Health, Haseena Ismail conducted an oversight visit to OR Tambo Hospital in Gauteng.
These are the main challenges the hospital is facing:
- Outdated staff structure and a decrease in the services offered due to budget constraints.
- Poor maintenance of building infrastructure with two assessments being conducted have concluded that the hospital is not fit for human consumption.
- Underwater drainage systems are leaking, which causes water to remain stagnant resulting in horrific smells.
- Shortages of doctors with only one doctor on call with a hospital that has a casualty that sees around 1700 patients per month.
- Delays in medical waste removals due to contractors not being paid on time.
- Patients need to bring their own linen as the laundry appointed by the province simply does not deliver on the services needed.
- Shortages of critical drugs for schedule 5 upwards.
- A surgical backlog of 60 percent.
- No high care unit.
- A shortage of skilled nurses within the system with the hospital needing an additional 200 nursing posts to meet demand.
Healthcare is one of the most important services in the country. In order to provide quality healthcare services to communities and to ensure public health workers’ moral remains high, there is a need to ensure that health spaces remain compliant, clean, and adhere to the department’s norms and standards. The Department of Health must ensure that facilities are provided with the adequate resources to secure timeous infrastructural repairs. We cannot allow are public facilities to disintegrate without proper interventions.
Michele Clarke MP
