Surgeries at Dora Nginza Hospital in Gqeberha had to be cancelled last week when operating theatres were forced to shut down due to electrical failures.
The Herald reports that important services, including paediatric and oncology elective surgeries, had to be rescheduled after electrical and backup system failures forced theatres to shut down on the Sunday.
Sources said a state mortuary within the hospital was also affected, sparking concerns about how the bodies were being preserved – and while the Health Department said power was restored four days later, doctors said the situation had created a backlog.
One doctor warned that if oncology patients were not operated on timeously, it could lead to complications, and that they had also had “patients piling up again for elective Caesars”.
The doctor said they had been forced to work in a makeshift theatre next to the labour ward to deal with emergency cases.
He said the UPS backup was also non-functional, and that they feared an “overflow of patients in our wards as has been the case numerous times in the past”.
He said working under unpredictable conditions, especially with unreliable power, was dangerous – not only for the patients but also the staff.
“We have lifts that don’t work and we just keep being promised that these things will be fixed.”
National Education, Health and Allied Workers Union (Nehawu) provincial secretary Mlu Ncapayi said the power failure had worsened the already dire conditions at the hospital.
He said the union had visited the hospital recently and found it was falling behind in meeting the timeframes set out in recommendations by Public Protector Kholeka Gcaleka, who had made several adverse findings in her report in May this year after investigating allegations of improper conduct and maladministration at the facility.
This followed media reports in 2023 about pregnant women being forced to sleep on chairs or on the floor because there were not enough beds.
Gcaleka had instructed the department to devise a plan to deal not only with inadequate security but the lack of space in the maternity ward.
In part, the department was ordered to give timelines for when:
• The kitchen and laundry would be relocated according to the Revitalisation of Infrastructure Project, for which funds were made available by the department; and
• The recruitment process for when the replacement of non-clinical staff would be finalised, and when authorities would regulate the lifespan and disposal of specialised cooking equipment, and the procurement of new equipment.
Eastern Cape Health spokesperson Siyanda Manana said hospital management was aware of the electrical issues.
“A service provider has been on site addressing the fault, and a stable power supply has been restored,” he said.
He added that the interruption was caused by a voltage drop from the municipal transformer supplying power to the hospital. This was an external infrastructure issue and not a failure of the hospital’s internal electrical system.
“Emergency surgical cases have continued to be managed without disruption,” he told The Herald.
Manana said on a normal day, Dora Nginza’s theatres managed between 10 and 13 surgical cases, depending on needs and case complexity.
“There are currently no (emergency) surgery backlogs recorded as a result of this incident.
“Clinical teams prioritised emergency and urgent cases, while elective procedures were rescheduled appropriately to prevent service disruption.
“The contingency theatre is fully functional and operates independently from the affected electrical supply through backup power systems. It was not affected by the power interruptions.”
He denied that mortuary services had been affected, but admitted that families were called to collect the bodies of relatives on the Monday.
“Backup systems ensured continuous refrigeration and safe preservation of bodies throughout the incident, which was not related to the Public Protector’s report and does not affect the implementation of any remedial actions or recommendations.
“The companies currently doing renovation work at the hospital are not involved in, and did not contribute to, the electrical interruption. Their work is unrelated to the hospital’s power infrastructure.”
The Herald article – Power woes add to hospital drama (Restricted access)
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