Patients worry about safety

WITH the imminent release of the report into the structural collapse at Charlotte Maxeke Academic Hospital, patients are worried there could be another accident.

Infrastructure Development MEC Jacob Mamabolo is expected to release a report into the structural collapse of a section of the hospital sometime this week.

When the roof collapsed earlier this month, five people were left injured.

Patient Richard, who did not want to give his surname, said: “I am worried that the hospital will collapse again. The roof in the X-ray and oncology units are damaged and look like they are about to collapse. I have been coming here for seven years and I feel like we are not safe here.”

On Friday, Mamabolo received a final report from Adams & Adams into the cause of the roof collapse.

The MEC had previously granted a week’s extension to the release of the final report into the collapse after one of the affected parties had requested an opportunity to make submissions.

The hospital’s infrastructure had been a point of contention, with a report released almost a year ago saying parts of the building were in need of urgent repairs.

In addition to that, a 2012 report on the state of the hospital pointed out some of the building’s shortcomings. It cautioned about the X-ray department, saying it should be evacuated because it could collapse.

The report also identified structural defects on the fifth floor of the building and recommended that urgent repairs costing R50 million be carried out.