Patients at Addington Hospital had to once again use the stairs because its lifts were broken, says an Independent on Saturday report after they visited the 16-storey hospital and found that none of the front passenger lifts was working, with frustrated patients having to use the stairs.
A notice posted on the doors of the lift said construction on the motor room was under way after it had been damaged by heavy rains. Noluthando Nkosi, spokesperson for KwaZulu-Natal Health, said the lifts had not been working since Tuesday of last week after earlier heavy rains. “Water ingress into the lift motor room has caused major damage to the lift main control system, the motor drive, and the motors,” she is quoted in the report as saying.
In August, patients had to be transferred to nearby hospitals after the lifts malfunctioned for more than a week.
Nkosi said the 140-year-old building was feeling the effects of ageing and over-population. “This infrastructure is at times susceptible to the elements. To overhaul it would require a complete shutdown of the hospital, and massive financial resources, both of which the department currently cannot afford.”
[link url="https://www.iol.co.za/news/south-africa/kwazulu-natal/patients-forced-to-take-stairs-as-addington-hospital-lifts-broken-again-37312703"]Independent on Saturday report[/link]