Two recent thefts in the space of three days at Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital were deliberate acts of sabotage which put patients’ lives at serious risk, the Gauteng health Department has said.
The Daily Maverick reports that in the first incident, 10m of copper cable – supplying oxygen to sections of the main ICU – was stolen in the early hours of the morning, and two days later, copper pipes leading to two general surgery theatres, and used to supply high-pressure water, were cut and stolen, compromising the cooling systems.
“It seems criminals found their way into one of the plant rooms and … cut the copper pipes feeding the two theatres with water,” said Motalatale Modiba, Health Department spokesperson.
This resulted in a failure in the autoclave system, which sterilises equipment in theatres, and “patients had to be moved to a different ward for operations”.
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Victor Moreriane, chief communications director of the Gauteng Department of Infrastructure Development, said: “We have brought a support service on-site to ensure the matter is attended to as quickly as possible.”
He believed the piping was being deliberately targeted by thieves, and labelled the cases deliberate sabotage.
Additional security measures will be implemented shortly, he added, saying the hospital has security guards, but only in certain areas of the facility.
“We have asked management to ensure guards do regular patrols, and an emergency procurement process has begun to ensure all plant rooms become access-controlled.”
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