The Eastern Cape government has moved with speed to fix up the mess at Fort Beaufort Hospital.
A high-level team was immediately sent to the hospital on the same day the Saturday Dispatch exposed the dire condition of the health facility.
Provincial government spokesman Sizwe Kupelo yesterday confirmed that, on the instruction of health MEC Dr Phumza Dyantyi, a delegation led by a top chief director at the department visited the hospital on Saturday.
Kupelo said the delegation went to see first-hand some of the challenges recorded by a Dispatch team during a visit last week.
The Dispatch visited Fort Beaufort Hospital on Wednesday and uncovered a range of problems, including broken windows, unkempt grounds and nurses having to mop floors due to a shortage of general workers.
There were also general hygiene and cleanliness issues.
Patients and staff alike complained of food shortages. The Dispatch was shown a hospital pantry that was bare.
But Kupelo yesterday denied that there was not enough food.
“The team found that there is food there and that the Dispatch team was misled by an official who took them around to places that portrayed a situation that showed a shortage of food.”
The Dispatch team also learnt that nurses and patients feared for their lives as armed robbers had terrorised and robbed them of their valuables inside the premises.
Nurses and patients blamed lax security measures.
Kupelo yesterday said the hospital management would be taken to task for decreasing the number of security guards from six to two per shift.
Kupelo attributed some of the challenges at Fort Beaufort Hospital to a “lack of leadership”.
“In 2014, the hospital’s CEO was placed on suspension and later fired for financial misconduct. We now have an acting person there, but we will soon strengthen that leadership by advertising and recruiting for a permanent CEO soon.
“The delay in the filling of such post was because the fired CEO had appealed her dismissal.”
Kupelo said the department team found that there was a serious need for maintenance at the hospital, and it would be prioritised by the state.
He said the team found “an element of food wastage” and that last year some staff members there, and at the nearby Victoria Hospital in Alice, were arrested after being found with “huge amounts of stolen food items”.
He said the province would revive its rapid response strategy, which will see authorities visiting hospitals unannounced to see to it that the wheels of service delivery were not hampered. — asandan@dispatch.co.za
State swoops to fix hospital of horrors
A high-level team was immediately sent to the hospital on the same day the Saturday Dispatch exposed the dire condition of the health facility.
Provincial government spokesman Sizwe Kupelo yesterday confirmed that, on the instruction of health MEC Dr Phumza Dyantyi, a delegation led by a top chief director at the department visited the hospital on Saturday.
Kupelo said the delegation went to see first-hand some of the challenges recorded by a Dispatch team during a visit last week.
The Dispatch visited Fort Beaufort Hospital on Wednesday and uncovered a range of problems, including broken windows, unkempt grounds and nurses having to mop floors due to a shortage of general workers.
There were also general hygiene and cleanliness issues.
Patients and staff alike complained of food shortages. The Dispatch was shown a hospital pantry that was bare.
But Kupelo yesterday denied that there was not enough food.
“The team found that there is food there and that the Dispatch team was misled by an official who took them around to places that portrayed a situation that showed a shortage of food.”
The Dispatch team also learnt that nurses and patients feared for their lives as armed robbers had terrorised and robbed them of their valuables inside the premises.
Nurses and patients blamed lax security measures.
Kupelo yesterday said the hospital management would be taken to task for decreasing the number of security guards from six to two per shift.
Kupelo attributed some of the challenges at Fort Beaufort Hospital to a “lack of leadership”.
“In 2014, the hospital’s CEO was placed on suspension and later fired for financial misconduct. We now have an acting person there, but we will soon strengthen that leadership by advertising and recruiting for a permanent CEO soon.
“The delay in the filling of such post was because the fired CEO had appealed her dismissal.”
Kupelo said the department team found that there was a serious need for maintenance at the hospital, and it would be prioritised by the state.
He said the team found “an element of food wastage” and that last year some staff members there, and at the nearby Victoria Hospital in Alice, were arrested after being found with “huge amounts of stolen food items”.
He said the province would revive its rapid response strategy, which will see authorities visiting hospitals unannounced to see to it that the wheels of service delivery were not hampered. — asandan@dispatch.co.za
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