NO FISH OR CHICKEN AT BARA HOSPITAL

No fish or chicken has been served to patients at the Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital for the past month as suppliers have not been paid.

I discovered this when I visited the hospital on Friday last week.

Two weeks ago there was a general shortage of food, and some patients were told that their relatives should feed them.

Patients rarely get a nutritionally balanced meal at this hospital.

Instead of following a proper menu, kitchen staff usually use whatever is available. Sometimes this is just a soup with scraps.

Portions are often too small. For instance, instead of the prescribed 150 grams of red meat, patients will get less than half of this.

Non-payment of food suppliers still causes problems despite the Gauteng Health Department's promise to settle all outstanding accounts by the end of March.

But poor management is also to blame for the poor meals given to patients that retards their recovery from illness.

It's one more reason to remove Ms Johanna More, the hospital's Chief Executive Officer who normally denies problems instead of fixing them.

Statement issued by Jack Bloom MPL, DA Gauteng Health Spokesman, April 9 2012

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