Baragwanath needs urgent intervention

15 March 2022

Note to Editors: Please find an attached soundbite by Michele Clarke MP.

The DA’s oversight inspection to the Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital in Johannesburg on Monday revealed a host of concerns that need to be addressed as a matter of urgency. Serious problems at this hospital not only limit the quality of care possible for patients, but also have a severe impact on the mental health of health practitioners.

Amongst the many problems hindering the hospital are:

400 posts have been lost due to National Treasury halving the budget for health care workers temporarily employed during the pandemic. These personnel relieved much of the strain of third largest hospital in the world;

Despite Baragwanath having to take over much of the work load from the Charlotte Maxeke Academic Hospital after a fire decimated large parts of it, there has been no according budget adjustment from either the national of provincial Departments of Health. Baragwanath is already battling suboptimal budget allocations to care for its 10 000 patients per month, as well as the 45 000 outpatients that require treatment;

There seems to be a desperate need to re-evaluate staff management as staff are severely overworked, which in turn causes high staff turn-over;

There is a shortage of critical skills like midwives, nurses, and specialized doctors;

Myriad of contractual problems with service providers – from providers not being paid on time, to failure to renew contracts timeously, having inadequate contracts in place, and limiting financial delegation for institutional accounting officers;

Due to historic inadequate funding that has never been rectified, Baragwanath is struggling to speed up the refurbishment of old infrastructure.

While Baragwanath has entered into public-private partnerships to improve health care at the hospital, it is still extremely worrying that the Gauteng Department of Health is continuously dropping the ball here. R4.59 million is still owed to service providers, and should they not be paid in time it could lead to another shortage of food and other supplies vital to patient care.

If the ANC government cannot even look after a single hospital in one province, how will it manage a system as complex as the National Health Insurance (NHI). While the DA believes in universal health care, the NHI is not the vehicle to drive this, and certainly not by the inept ANC government.

If the mismanagement of the Baragwanath and Charlotte Maxeke hospitals and the Anglo Ashanti Hospital in the Far West Rand have shown us anything, it’s that the ANC government is completely incapable of sustainable patient care and management of health care systems. Under the ruling party’s watch, national health care in South Africa has been destroyed.

Issued by Michele Clarke, DA Shadow Minister of Health, 15 March 2022