Telephone bills and furniture were prioritised over hospital equipment at Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital, the national and provincial health departments said on Thursday.
In a joint statement, the departments cited ”deficiencies on the management side” as the reason the hospital did not have required equipment.
”The management of the hospital has failed to prioritise the core functions of the hospital in the allocation of about R1,1-billion annual budget allocated to the hospital,” the statement said.
This emerged after the health departments appointed a task team to investigate the conditions at the hospital’s neo-natal and maternity sections.
The investigation was initiated in response to a report in the Star newspaper, carrying pictures of three newborn babies lying in a cardboard box.
The report said the hospital had its equipment budget cut by more than half this year in order for the province to buy ”big-ticket” equipment for other Gauteng hospitals. This meant expenditure at Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital was put on hold until next year or longer.
”The [task] team established that the hospital was spending more than R9,4-million on telephone accounts per year, while only R7-million was allocated for procurement of all medical equipment including basinettes, cot beds, infusion pumps, blood-pressure machines etc,” the health departments said.
National Health Department spokesperson Sibane Mngadi said a further example was the facility allocating R7-million to acquiring furniture, which was the same amount allocated to acquiring new equipment.
”Clearly there is abnormality there that needs to be addressed,” he said.
Reprioritising the budget
Mngadi said while the provincial department is responsible for allocating a ”total budget” to the hospital, it is up to the facility to spend that budget on its various needs and requirements.
He said hospital management needs to reprioritise its budget in order to meet the hospital’s needs. ”You need to make sure that the current budget is used sufficiently and then argue for more.”
Mngadi said the hospital has a ”big budget” but that it also has a ”huge workload” that has to be taken into account.
A team from the provincial health department will be sent to the hospital to help management make better use of its human and financial resources, Mngadi said. ”The team of experts will also seek measures to reduce long delays in the procurement system and address challenges relating to maintenance of the hospital.”
Public Protector Lawrence Mushwana has also launched an investigation into the situation at the hospital after being briefed on the situation on Thursday.
Mngadi said his department will cooperate with Mushwana’s investigation in any way required.
Meanwhile, Democratic Alliance health spokesperson Jack Bloom said it is ”completely unfair to blame” management for the problems at Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital.
”The crisis is far larger than babies in cardboard boxes … the health department can’t be let off the hook; their budget [allocation] is simply not big enough. They have got to give decent budgets,” he said.
Bloom said he was ”reliably informed” that equipment — such as incubators, anaesthetic machines and pulse meters — worth about R60-million was condemned at the hospital in the past three years.
”About R25-million of equipment was written off last year, and R35-million-worth in the preceding two years,” he said.
The equipment budget of R7-million was not enough, especially taking these figures into account, Bloom said. — Sapa