Gauteng hospitals fail to spend R59m on equipment 

15 August 2016

Gauteng public hospitals failed to spend R59 million out of R480 million that was budgeted for equipment last year.

This is revealed by Gauteng Health MEC, Qedani Mahlangu, in a written reply to my questions in the Gauteng Legislature.

According to Mahlangu, "underspending was incurred within the District, Psychiatric, Other Specialized, Tuberculosis, Dental Training, Provincial Tertiary and Central hospitals and this was due to payment of key non-negotiable items within goods and services item that were prioritized."

The biggest underspend was at the Helen Joseph, Kalafong and Tembisa hospitals, which failed to spend R34 million that was allocated to them for equipment.

R7.3 million that was allocated for Dental Training was also not spent.

The underspending and the diversion of funds for other goods and services shows poor management and budgeting.

Patients suffer when there is a shortage of vital equipment.

Mahlangu says that the department has set up a medical equipment committee to review the equipment needs per institution, and this will inform the budget requirements over the Medium Term Economic Framework (MTEF) period.

I hope that this ensures an adequate budget for hospital equipment and that it is fully spent.

Issued by Jack Bloom, DA Gauteng Shadow Health MEC, 15 August 2016