By Charmaine Ndlela and Rodah Mosima
A total of 860 beds at Soweto’s Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital (CHNH) do not have a full set of linen, according to Gauteng health MEC Nomantu Nkomo-Ralehoko.
This was revealed in answers to Democratic Alliance Gauteng health spokesperson Jack Bloom.
“… this increases the infection risk, is undignified and uncomfortable for patients. It delays bed turnaround times, and it increases the burden on nursing and cleaning stuff,” Bloom said in a statement on Thursday.
“Each hospital bed should have a minimum of five sets per linen category to allow for rotational use (on bed, in laundry, in storage, in transit and in contingency stock).”
The MEC said in her reply that linen must include flat sheets, fitted sheets, blankets, pillowcases, counterpanes/bedcovers and patient gowns/pyjamas.
Ideally there should be 14,400 stocks of each linen category for the 2888 beds at the hospital.
Currently, there are 14,902 flat sheets, 17,524 blankets, no fitted sheets, 10,239 pyjamas, 4517 bedspreads and 1272 pillowcases.
Bloom questioned how the hospital was coping.
“In July, the department denied any linen shortage, but now it admits the severe shortage at CHBH,” Bloom said.
“The DA will continue to expose linen shortages by visiting hospitals and asking follow up questions in the legislature which hopefully force them to resolve it.”
The department said in the reply that efforts were being made to get emergency stock, and the hospital expected to have its full set of linen by the first quarter of the next year “contingent on tender conclusion and funding flow”.
“This is not good enough. Of particular concern is the risk of infection, which is already high with 1796 hospital acquired infections at CHBH out of 31,985 admissions last year,” he said.
“It should not take six months to buy more linen. The inability to fix this simple problem shows incredible poor management”.
Bloom told Inside Metro that there was also a linen issue at Helen Joseph Hospital.
INSIDE METROS