Criminal charges have been laid against five Chris Hani Baragwanath hospital employees as the Gauteng department of health moves to clamp down on irregular practices in hospitals, the department said in a statement on Thursday.
”The employees have also been suspended with immediate effect. This follows a preliminary investigation into alleged irregularities committed by officials and service providers at the hospital. The investigation started in December last year and a preliminary report was handed to the department this week,” the statement said.
The report indicates that some officials in the hospital’s procurement department conducted themselves irregularly by ordering goods and services without following procurement procedures, as well as ”causing payment for goods and services to be processed without proof of delivery”.
In some instances, the report says, payment was processed even before delivery occurred.
Some officials authorised procurement of goods and services unrelated to their line functions or departments and conducted regular business with suppliers who did not have a service-level agreement with the hospital, the report says.
”The losses suffered by the hospital as a result of these activities have as yet not been established, as the investigation has not yet been completed.”
In an unrelated case, an employee of Wits Dental School was arrested and appeared in court on allegations of fraud and corruption, the department said.
Disciplinary action was taken against the employee and the official was found guilty and dismissed. An appeal against the decision of the disciplinary committee has been lodged and the decision of the appeal committee is awaited.
”It has been estimated that the dental school suffered a loss of more than R5,2-million as a result of fraud and corruption,” the department stated.
Gauteng’s minister for health, Brian Hlongwa, has instructed that tough action be taken to restore discipline in all health facilities.
”It is not enough simply to lay criminal charges and take disciplinary action against people involved in acts of wanton crime in our facilities. We will also be taking action to recover the lost money from the guilty individuals.
”With the help of law-enforcement agencies and the justice system, we will not hesitate to attach the assets of anyone found guilty, including freezing their pension payouts if they are our employees.
”Financial irregularities in the public health sector would not be tolerated because it compromises the quality of health care received by patients,” Hlongwa said. — I-Net Bridge