SIYABONGA SITHOLE
Johannesburg - Known as "death hospital" as well as for many controversies, the Bheki Mlangeni District Hospital in Soweto continues to attract negative headlines.
This week, it was revealed by the Democratic Alliance (DA) that the hospital has been making do without one of its operating theatres for three months.
The DA says the broken theatre at Bheki Mlangeni Hospital is a cause for concern and a symptom of a much bigger problem within the hospital as the state of affairs across other Gauteng hospitals.
In a statement, DA health spokesperson Jack Bloom says patients are suffering due to an operating theatre that has been broken for three months at the Soweto-based hospital.
Bloom says to compound matters even further, in October 2020, the hospital chief executive Ruth Mabyana was put on precautionary suspension while facing a misconduct charge following the alleged rape of a psychiatric patient.
Bloom says since then, the hospital has been plagued by a series of controversies. "Previous controversies included the murder of a patient by a psychiatric patient, and a jobs-for-pay scandal. But the investigation into these matters has dragged on and on," Bloom says.
Bloom says the poor state of affairs at the hospital was revealed to him by Gauteng MEC of health, Dr Nomathemba Mokgethi, during a written reply to his question at the Gauteng Legislature.
"According to a written reply by Gauteng Health MEC Nomathemba Mokgethi to my questions in the Gauteng Legislature, the Open Water company has completed its investigation of the hospital but ‘due to internal capacity restraints’ is still in the process of engaging the Office of the Premier to assist with the implementation of some of the recommendations as contained in the final investigation report", Bloom adds.
The member of the DA says the delay in the investigation cannot be excused as it prevents the resolution of the deep management problems at this hospital, adding that the delay could be due to continued entrenched interests by those who might be fingered by the investigation.
"Poor hospital management is evident with the latest crisis over a broken operating theatre. How can it be that an operating theatre is not fixed speedily? This puts lives at risk when surgery is needed urgently,“ he said.
Bloom says the DA will continue to push for the public release of the Open Water investigation and speedy implementation of its recommendations to fix the hospital.
The Star