A scene whereby family members had to carry a patient of the Robert Mangaliso Sobukwe (RMS) Hospital in Kimberley, up a flight of stairs on a sheet last week due to a number of broken lifts at the facility, has come to epitomise the state of government health care in the province.

While the Department of Roads and Public Works previously confirmed that there are a number of broken lifts at the facility and that the lift maintenance contract was due to expire, which it now has, it has further come to light that the Health Department also owes the company responsible for maintaining the lifts an amount of R1,5 million.

The Democratic Alliance (DA) in the Northern Cape is calling on Health MEC, Maruping Lekwene, to urgently intervene, as it is increasingly clear that the hospital is not coping.

Aside from growing debt levels and breaking infrastructure, the facility is visibly in decline and doesn’t seem able to get back on course.

Despite the recent shooting that occurred at the hospital, security remains poor and the hospital remains a free-for-all, especially after hours, when the patients and staff at the facility are at their most vulnerable. The CCTV cameras that were previously installed at great cost to the health department, are also still not operational.

The multi-million rand cooling system further remains out of use and has in fact become a white elephant. This, while soaring temperatures and a lack of airflow turn the hospital into a hotbed of disease, with more and more patients complaining that they have picked up secondary infections after being admitted, and their wounds have become septic because of a non-sterile environment.

Given that the country remains in the midst of a pandemic, with the Northern Cape still experiencing high rates of confirmed cases of Covid-19, the situation is very concerning. The lives and wellbeing of patients and our many dedicated health care works, are being placed at risk.

The DA will request the health portfolio committee to schedule an oversight inspection to the RMS Hospital in order to address the number of challenges presenting at the facility.

In pandemic times, the Northern Cape’s only tertiary facility should be operating at its very best, not at its very worst.

 

Issued by The DA