Top-level task team probes Addington

A TASK team comprising senior managers from the KwaZulu-Natal Department of Health has been appointed to look into the management and operational problems at Addington Hospital.

The eight-member team, which will also include staff from other hospitals, is expected to start work at the hospital tomorrow.

This comes after the Daily News exposed medical supply shortages at the hospital which have resulted in elective surgeries being cancelled and patients being turned away without medication.

In an interview this morning, KZN Health Department head Dr Sibongile Zungu said staff would be briefed today about the work of the task team.

“We want to meet with both the day and night staff. We want to understand the issues affecting them and the problems they have.

“They will also be briefed about what we have found in the investigations into allegations of fraud and corruption at the hospital.”

Zungu said problems at the hospital had been identified as early as 2009.

“This was when I joined the Health Department. I was going to appoint a task team at the time.

“But several investigations were launched and a lot more irregularities were uncovered.

“Unfortunately, it has been a long process.”

At the time of Zungu’s appointment, some of the challenges included the running of the hospital, patient dissatisfaction with service delivery, poor stock management, poor infrastructure maintenance and irregular expenditure patterns.

Painful

“What is so painful for me is that disadvantaged people have been suffering as a result of poor management and corruption.

“The shortage of supplies is not because we did not have money to make purchases. The supplies had been bought but we do not know where… (they have) gone to.”

Since the 2008/09 financial year, Zungu said, the expenditure for stocks at the hospital had almost doubled.

“We cannot sit back and tolerate these irregularities. The pilferage cannot continue. We are glad that the media have brought the recent goings-on at the hospital to our attention.”

Zungu said that while management issues were a problem, Addington Hospital remained one of the best facilities when it came to clinical intervention.

“I want to assure patients that while we have many challenges, we will strive for the best patient care. Criminal and internal investigations are still continuing.”

“The investigation has been completed and the SIU is finalising its report into this matter. However, we cannot reveal specific details of this investigation.”

National police spokesman, Brigadier Lindela Mashigo, said they had not received the SIU report. He declined to comment further.

It has also been claimed that no prototype of the game, specifically designed for the police, had been presented to top structures for approval – and that a unilateral decision was allegedly taken to purchase it.

According to the source, questions have been raised over the original tender price, which was allegedly inflated from R633 000 to R988 000.

A Benoni-based company that won the tender was allegedly paid in full for the job on February 26, 2008, three months before the games were delivered.

Details of the cash transfer are contained in financial statements in possession of the Daily News.

The source alleged that the cost rose to finish the particular department’s budget. Other alleged irregular payments to the same company for promotional goods were also being probed, the source said.

“The game was supposed to have been distributed to children