Poor conditions at Bara

2001-11-09 12:52

Antoinette Pienaar

Johannesburg - Conditions at the Chris Hani-Baragwanath Hospital are still desperate and he urgently calls on the Gauteng legislature with a request for more funds.

Speaking on Wednesday Ethics Institute of South Africa chief Professor Willem Landman, following the release of an ethics audit report about the hospital, said the report found the building is dirty, people are abused, linen is being stolen, medical care is below standard and communication is weak.

In addition professional misconduct, out-dated equipment, over full wards, long hours and a shortage of nursing staff have resulted in a low morale among personnel and many of them often consider resigning.

Landman said the survey, conducted at the request of hospital chief executive Dr Reg Broekman, possibly offers for the first time scientific proof to stories of the desperate conditions in state hospitals.

A total of 772 of the hospital's 5 000 staff members and 200 patients participated.

Complaints listed by personnel included medicine and linen shortages, security measures were inadequate, they were overworked and underpaid.

The Gauteng government in February 1999 undertook to step up security measures at provincial hospitals following threats by Baragwanath doctors to resign as a result of assaults on them on the hospital premises. Another group in June 1999 lodged complaints over broken and out of date equipment which posed a theat to patients' safety as well as a personnel crisis.

The ethics audit says that 50 percent of personnel was witness to negligence or bad care and several saw that patients had not given permission for medical procedures, that they are not adequately cared for or respected and that their information is not treated with confidentiality.

Both patients and personnel said they were physically and verbally abused.

There is no consensus over ethical values. Several participants for example did not regard 'fraud' and 'tips' to receive preferential treatment as wrong.

A total of 15 percent of patients said doctors and nurses did not treat them with respect and 64 percent said they were not given adequate information about their condition or medication.

The institute recommends that private hospitals, as part of their social responsibility, share their knowledge and experience with state hospitals.

Landman recommended that a call for an urgent budget request to be made for more staff and to consider privatising security, linen and cleaning services.

Broekman on Wednesday said organised syndicates possibly steal medicines and linen. He added that security was being stepped and the buildings cleaned up. This year's bigger budget (R760 million) is being implemented for more personnel and on equipment.

Gauteng Health authority spokesperson Popo Maja said on Wednesday he believed that the hospital would be able to address its problems "within its budget constraints".

- Beeld