Soweto’s Chris Hani Baragwanath Academic Hospital is struggling with yet another bed linen crisis, leaving hundreds of patients without basic bedding necessities and contributing to hospital-acquired infections, a situation the DA has blamed on an “alarming collapse in hospital management”.
It’s not the only hospital grappling with the linen issue, reports SowetanLIVE. The Dunswart provincial laundry, which services the Rahima Moosa Mother and Child Hospital, Tambo Memorial Hospital, Tembisa Hospital, 25 clinics and the Gauteng Emergency Medical Services, is operating at just 75% capacity.
Gauteng Health MEC Nomantu Nkomo-Ralehoko said 860 beds at Bara do not have a full set of linen, and in a written reply to a question by the DA’s Jack Bloom in the legislature, said each hospital bed should have at least five full sets of linen to ensure proper rotation: one on the bed, one in laundry, one in storage, one in transit and one in contingency stock.
The linen included flat sheets, fitted sheets, blankets, pillowcases, counterpanes/bedcovers and patient gowns or pyjamas. For Bara’s 2 888 beds, this means the hospital should hold 14 440 items in each category.
“Instead, the hospital is operating with zero fitted sheets, 1 272 pillowcases, 4 517 counterpanes and 10 239 patient gowns, far below the required stock. While the hospital has a surplus of flat sheets (14 902) and blankets (17 524), about 650 beds are made up with only one sheet, due to rotation pressure and supply constraints.”
Nkomo-Ralehoko said the shortage was due to old, outdated laundry machines, delays in finalising bulk linen purchases, a high patient load that accelerates wear and tear, and the late washing of soiled items.
“Inadequate linen compromises the patient’s experience, especially for long-term and immobile patients, and causes delays in bed turnaround times and recovery processes,” she said.
Bloom said the situation was unacceptable and placed immense strain on nursing and cleaning staff, who are forced to manage bed turnaround times with inadequate supplies.
“It should not take six months to buy more linen. The inability to fix this simple problem shows incredibly poor management,” he said, adding that the shortage posed serious risks to patients because Bara recorded 1 796 hospital-acquired infections out of 31 985 admissions last year.
The figure was worsened by inadequate hygiene standards linked to the linen crisis.
Hospital staff in Gauteng, including Bara, recently revealed that overcrowding, staff shortages, lack of cleaning materials and inconsistent infection control practices could have contributed to the increase in hospital-acquired infections last year.
Nkomo-Ralehoko said 7 743 patients out of 217 490 got infections in government hospitals in the province last year – a huge jump from the previous year’s 2 034.
Old washing machines
Gauteng Health spokesperson Motalatale Modiba said the Dunswart Laundry facility was being hobbled by staff shortages and outdated machinery, yet having to process between 40 000 and 45 000 items of laundry daily.
The Dunswart and Masakhane laundries are earmarked for a R50m recapitalisation programme, funded by a national health grant in the 2025/2026 financial year, to refurbish and replace old equipment.
While the department frames this as a long-term solution, Bloom insisted urgent action was required now. “It should not take months of tender delays to provide something as basic as clean sheets for patients,” he said.
SowetanLIVE article – Bed linen crisis hits Bara patients (Restricted access)
See more from MedicalBrief archives:
Millions set aside to fix dysfunctional hospital laundries
Critical linen shortage at Bara after laundry failure
Hundreds of cancelled Gauteng surgeries because of laundry shortages
Nearly 900 operations cancelled at Bara – Gauteng Health MEC