A large section of Fort Beaufort Provincial Hospital has been shut down by the Eastern Cape Department of Labour, which has deemed 13 wards a health hazard. The dilapidated institution has leaking ceilings and no linen, complain patients and staff; it is also filthy.
Despite a major overhaul being recommended in 2017/2018, little progress has been made. A hospital manager told GroundUp: “We are scared our hospital might be shut down … On 10 June, the Department of Labour inspectors shut down 13 male wards in block two saying they are a health hazard. Now the patients have been moved to block five, which was used for COVID patients.
“Many wards, including the maternity ward, have leaking roofs because of the 13 December storm. In 2018, we were promised our hospital would be rebuilt. Also, according to our organogram we should have 10 groundsmen, but we only have two. And we need 12 porters, but we only have two.”
Old files have been dumped in dilapidated, abandoned rooms; male and female patients share toilets; all of the taps are leaking and the entire building is always damp, said staff.
Another manager said: “I am worried that if the department does not urgently fix this hospital it is going to shut down and people will be forced to travel to Alice and to East London.
“This used to be one of the best hospitals … But since the democratic government took over, it has become filthy and a place of negligence.”
When GroundUp visited the hospital, the wards and toilets were filthy. Animals grazed on the unmaintained grounds; the building is dilapidated, windows are broken and the roof has not been repaired since it was damaged by a storm in December. Old patient files are dumped in an unused outbuilding.
Patients in the casualty section have little privacy. There is no internal corridor connecting casualty to the wards, so patients have to be wheeled outside in chairs or on stretchers, no matter the weather, to be transferred to the wards.
“We wait for many hours at casualty before we are attended to,” a patient complained to GroundUp. “I don’t understand why a big hospital has a shortage of staff and blankets. If you are admitted the nurses tell you to bring your own blankets.”
A former nurse said: “Shortage of staff and linen has been a crisis for more than 10 years there.”
And a clerk said: “We don’t have filing cabinets. Patients’ folders are lying all over the place. On wet days we have to put buckets out for leaks and move the old furniture around.”
“The wards, not the whole hospital, were issued with a probation notice, in terms of the Occupational Health and Safety Act 85 of 1993,” said Yonela Dekeda, provincial health spokesperson.
She said the department was busy repairing the storm damage and there was a contractor on site replacing asbestos roofing throughout the 13 wards and fixing leaking roof sheets, damaged ceilings, and broken windows.
She said the department was aware of the “infrastructure issues”. An assessment was done in 2017/18 which recommended a major overhaul. A master plan to fix the hospital was signed in 2018. The refurbishment cost was estimated to be R350m.
“The department did not have funds to implement the project in its entirety. It opted to phase the project and start an upgrade to the perimeter fence and guardhouse to ensure safety and security of both patients and staff. This phase has been completed.
“The second phase will concentrate on plumbing (including ablutions), painting, vinyl floor covering. The project is in an advanced stage of implementation and a contractor is expected to be on site before the end of the second quarter of the financial year.”
Dekeda said male and female patients were not sharing toilets as reported and there was no shortage of linen.
As for staff shortages, this was “being addressed through the implementation of the current approved Annual Recruitment Process”.
The provincial Department of Labour did not respond to GroundUp’s questions.
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