Broken lifts hobble Uitenhage hospital
Surgeries delayed, pregnant women sent elsewhere
Surgeries have had to be delayed and some patients diverted to other facilities because lifts at Uitenhage Provincial Hospital constantly break down.
The staff have been battling with the broken lifts for more than three months, forcing exhausted health-care workers to use the stairs to move patients, deliver food and drop off medicine.
On Tuesday, none of the seven lifts at the seven-floor hospital were working, according to staff.
Five of the lifts were repaired on Wednesday. Two others have been switched off permanently for safety reasons.
A few months ago, bodies were left in their beds for the night because they could not be transported to the morgue.
Health department spokesperson Sizwe Kupelo confirmed the lifts were malfunctioning. But he said three lifts were working on Tuesday and two more were repaired on Wednesday.
“As of now, five are working. The department is moving with speed to get them fixed,” he said.
He said a quotation to refurbish the lifts was submitted on Tuesday.
“An assessment was made on the lifts, which are old, and technicians recommend an overhaul refurbishment, which is what the department is now processing in line with Public Finance Management Act procurement procedures.”
He said maintenance had been stopped earlier because the company contracted to service the lifts had not been paid. “They were paid last week.”
Kupelo did not say how much was owed to the company or what had caused the payment delay.
“These lifts are old and parts for them cannot be found, hence the decision to upgrade to newer models.”
He said R1.6m had been budgeted to upgrade the lifts.
“The unavailability of lifts does affect operations at the facility. The upgrade will greatly assist in negating the unavailability issues and lift downtime.”
A doctor, who declined to be named, said the theatre had been forced to close on Tuesday and patients arriving to be booked into the maternity ward were sent to Dora Nginza Provincial Hospital.
“If any expecting mothers were booked into the hospital and required a caesarean it could not happen. These people were told to go elsewhere.”
He said three of the lifts used by patients had not been working for more than three months.
There is a service lift and a backup lift.
“We have been using the backup lift. How can a hospital keep operating with just a backup lift?”
He said surgeons spent the day sitting around.
“This is not management.
This is a joke.
“How can we expect to vaccinate hundreds of thousands of people when we can’t even keep a lift working?”
A health-care worker said it was a nightmare dealing with the lifts.
“We are exhausted with Covid-19 and now we must run up and down the stairs.”
The worker said the new beds also did not fit into the service lift.
“We have to move patients and bodies from the new beds onto trolleys.”
Often staff transported patients in wheelchairs up and down the stairs, the worker said.
“It can’t go on like this. It is crazy.”
Another employee said it was ludicrous to work without lifts.