SA hospitals not safe, clean or well-equipped

BABIES are not safe from kidnappers due to a lack of security outside maternity wards.

Adult patients face risks including a lack of oxygen and adrenalin on emergency trolleys needed for life-threatening situations.

Supplies not being ordered timeously‚ poor infection controls as well as inadequacies in cleanliness and medical waste disposal are also revealed by inspections of 485 state clinics and hospitals by the Office of Health Standards Compliance.

Johann Serfontein‚ from privately owned healthcare consultancy Healthman‚ said the results showed “the health system is failing. It is a management problem and you can’t fix management with money”.

This is despite the fact the health budget has climbed by more than R100-billion in 10 years, from R71.4billion in 2007-08 to R181-billion in this financial year.

Key findings:

None of South Africa’s largest hospitals scored above 70% for basic hospital cleanliness. Charlotte Maxeke Johannesburg Academic Hospital was dusty‚ short of cleaning materials and had cockroaches in the medicine store room.

Nelson Mandela Academic Hospital in Mthatha did not have disposable sponges and liquid soap.

At Pelanomi Hospital in Bloemfontein‚ the toilets were dirty and smelt bad and the hospital was also short of cleaning supplies.

The storeroom at Durban’s King Edward Hospital was dirty and badly packed.

No security in many hospitals’ high risk wards such as maternity wards‚ neonatal units and ICUs.

At Charlotte Maxeke‚ there was no paper for the ECG machine used to measure heart problems, meaning basic heart tests could not be done.

Nelson Mandela Academic Hospital did not have essential equipment used to help women in labour.

Frere Hospital in East London scored only 42.4% for infection control even though a pass is 80%.

This means a patient could get a bacterial infection in hospital while being treated for another illness.

In many cases, there was a lack of paperwork done by doctors and management even in high-risk cases such as pregnancy complications.

This means Department of Health facilities are opening themselves up for lawsuits when they are already facing R48-billion in medico legal claims – a third of the annual budget.

Fixing the issues could be complicated‚ Dr Grace Labadarious, from the Office of Health Standards Compliance, said.

“They almost universally relate to management issues and supply chain problems – [there is] no accountability and no responsibility,” she said.