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New Frere hospital claims
12/08/2007 16:53 - (SA)
Johannesburg - Health Minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang must reveal whether medical equipment was sent to the Frere hospital ahead of a departmental task team visit, the Democratic Alliance said on Sunday.
Spokesperson Mike Waters said in a statement that he would submit parliamentary questions to the minister this week seeking clarification on whether medical equipment was shipped to the hospital before the task team, sent to investigate the situation there, arrived. The investigation followed media reports of chronic staff and equipment shortages and the deaths of hundreds of babies at the hospital.
"If the equipment in question was not permanent and just brought in to create the impression that things were better than they appeared, the task team's assessment would have been flawed, and its final report skewed," he said. Task team mislead?
"If the equipment was shipped in at the last moment, and the task team was, in effect, mislead, someone at the hospital needs to be held to account for this".
Waters said media reports stated that a significant amount of medical equipment as well as beds and linen were taken to the hospital from Cecilia Makiwane and Bisho hospitals before the department's official visit.
He said the Bisho and Cecilia Makiwane hospitals were in conditions similar to Frere and could hardly afford to have critical equipment missing.
"Someone needs to account for this situation and the DA will pursue the issue until the public - whom both the hospitals and the department serve - are given a suitable explanation," he said.
- SAPA
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