Joburg Hospital fire is a huge blow to health services in Gauteng

18 April 2021

The terrible fire at the Charlotte Maxeke Johannesburg Hospital (CMJH) has dealt a huge blow to health services in Gauteng.

I commend the heroic effort to transfer nearly 700 patients to other hospitals after the decision was taken to close CMJH for seven days, but I suspect that certain specialist services will be disrupted for far longer.

Cancer patients will suffer worst as the oncology department is near the parking lot that has collapsed. Expensive radiation machines may have been damaged or will need to be salvaged for a new place to operate.

I am concerned that large parts of the hospital may not be structurally sound after this fire and will not be safe for patients.

This hospital has been poorly maintained for years, with frequent water leaks and a ceiling that collapsed in March 2017.

Another problem is that the COVID-19 crisis has worsened the waiting times for surgery, and thousands of patients will have to wait even longer for operations.

There may also be a shortage of medical supplies, including Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) and medicines, because of the fire which destroyed storerooms.

As CMJH is an academic hospital it will not be easy to provide certain specialist services elsewhere in the province for extended periods of time.

The Gauteng Infrastructure Development Department should speedily assess whether the structural integrity of the building as a whole is safe.

We need an investigation into the cause of the fire and why safety measures were not able to prevent it or stop it sooner.

It appears that fire hydrants were broken at the hospital building, and water had to be obtained from elsewhere.

This is the second fire this year at a Gauteng public hospital, and questions need to be answered about safety measures at all our public hospitals.

Issued by Jack Bloom, DA Gauteng Shadow MEC for Health, 18 April 2021