No clean linen had led to surgeries being called at nine Gauteng public hospitals this year, reports News24. Mamelodi was the worst affected hospital as about 200 operations had to be cancelled when linen shortages persisted for two weeks.
This information was revealed by Gauteng Health MEC Nomathemba Mokgethi in a written reply to questions posed by Democratic Alliance’s health spokesperson Jack Bloom in the Gauteng Legislature.
A total of 80 cataract ops were cancelled at Sebokeng Hospital, while Jubilee Hospital cancelled 18 operations and 15 were cancelled at Helen Joseph Hospital. Although the Chris Hani Baragwanath and Charlotte Maxeke hospitals also suffered some linen shortages, they had back-up plans and were able to avoid cancelling any surgery.
“Most of the linen shortages are because of machine breakdowns and inefficiency at the two state laundries which supply public hospitals – Dunswart Laundry on the East Rand, and the Masakhane Laundry in Rosslyn in Tshwane,” said Bloom. Some hospitals, including Mamelodi, George Mukhari and Charlotte Maxeke, have used private laundries to assist with the shortages, but others feel obliged to only use the state laundries despite their failures, says the News24 report.
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