The IFP believes that the deplorable lack of hygiene at Addington Hospital is due to incompetent cleaning contractors.
My colleague, Hon. Joshua Mazibuko, visited Addington Hospital Dental Clinic today, where he was shocked to find uncollected garbage lying around – inside and outside the Hospital. We are concerned about what is happening at Addington Hospital, as this Hospital always seems to gain the public’s attention for the wrong reasons.
It is high time for the Department of Health to weed out those who do shoddy work, and have them blacklisted. Incompetence by hospital cleaning contractors must not be tolerated. The current company that provides cleaning services to Addington Hospital must have its contract terminated with immediate effect. We are convinced that corruption is involved in the appointment of this cleaning company at Addington Hospital. We are aware that there will be concerns raised about workers who will be affected if this contract is terminated but we cannot afford to have incompetent companies that are providing shoddy work while milking the public purse.
Further, in light of the Covid-19 pandemic, it is perplexing that management at Addington Hospital are neglecting to take action to ensure good hygiene at the health facility.
We urge the KZN MEC for Health, Nomagugu Simelane-Zulu, to dissolve the management team, as this will send a strong warning to all other health institutions across the Province to enhance good hygiene, which will contribute to the quick recovery of patients and the promotion of health. She must entrench performance-based systems for contracts, and move towards weeding out contractors who do shoddy work in hospitals.
The IFP wants to see all health institutions in the Province conform to high levels of cleanliness. Poor hygiene at healthcare institutions is a danger to patients and their care-givers. The health of patients and those who accompany them is at risk at health institutions whose hygiene standards are below acceptable levels. Dirty health institutions risk making visitors sick, as the visitors and the patients they are visiting could be exposed to hospital-acquired infections.
The onus, however, is on the respective administrators of these institutions. The challenge or excuse of inadequate funding should never be a justification for dirty hospital wards and premises.
Sometimes dirtiness is a result of poor supervision of those tasked to do the cleaning. This needs to be dealt with. Let’s give patients hope rather than despair, by providing a clean environment.
The IFP further calls on the KZN Premier, Sihle Zikalala, to intervene in the dire circumstances at Addington Hospital, as the KZN MEC for Health, Nomagugu Simelane-Zulu, seems to be failing to address them. An unpopular decision must be taken to dismiss the Hospital CEO, who is failing to provide good leadership in running the affairs of the Hospital. Addington Hospital is in dire need of a new, competent CEO, who will bring much-needed change in the hospital. One wonders why the current CEO is being protected, despite being proven to be incompetent.
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Contact:
Contact:
Mrs Ncamisile Nkwanyana, MPL
IFP KZN Provincial Spokesperson for Health
078 302 3991
