Bedfordview Clinic hygiene crisis deepens as cleaning staff contracts lapse

Bedfordview Clinic continues to face serious challenges following the termination of its cleaning staff contracts at the end of June.

With the City of Ekurhuleni (CoE) yet to appoint a replacement, the clinic currently lacks essential cleaning services and basic supplies, including toilet paper and cleaning equipment.

This latest development adds to a growing list of concerns. In May, Bedfordview and Edenvale News reported on the clinic’s crumbling infrastructure, which poses safety risks to both patients and staff.

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These issues include collapsing ceilings, overgrown grounds, and severely understaffed services.

One particularly alarming report details a roof leak so severe that buckets must be placed in corridors during rainfall.

Additional concerns include broken toilets, blocked gutters, a damaged perimeter fence, and a generator with no diesel.

These conditions have severely impacted the clinic’s ability to function.

According to ward councillor Jill Humphreys, a recent meeting with provincial officials and the clinic committee confirmed that there is currently no budget available to address the facility’s challnges.

“At the time of the proposed ‘takeover’, my understanding is that there has not been proper policy or guidance to implement the change of responsibility,” Humphreys said.

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“I am not in favour of centralised government. Every clinic has its own issues and should be managed accordingly. The ‘one size fits all’ approach, in my opinion, has never worked.”

Humphreys is now calling for the temporary closure of the clinic.

“If issues of basic hygiene cannot be fulfilled by an institution providing medical and health benefits, then yes, it should be shut down. There’s an urgency to clean it up and make it functional and safe for the community.

“I do not consider unhygienic facilities safe for already vulnerable community members. Attending such a facility under those conditions defeats the object of its existence.”

Humphreys believes the current crisis reflects deeper, systemic issues in the healthcare sector, particularly in service delivery for vulnerable citizens.

“It’s an essential service and should be prioritised as such. My personal long-term plan is politically not accepted.

“As already stated, I am not in favour of centralised government. If I had a choice, I would make clinics the unique responsibility of every area of local government,” she added.

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Despite the grim conditions, Humphreys offered a cautiously optimistic message to residents:

“The acting HOD for Environmental Health has already responded in terms of an urgent cleanup. I would like to believe that this is taking place and that the facility has again become functional.”

A media enquiry was sent to the City of Ekurhuleni on July 15. By the time of going to print, no response had been received.