After several promises made to build a laundry at Rob Ferreira Hospital by the Department of Health, it is still not done.

In February, the department spokesman, Dumisani Malamule, said the laundry would finally be operational by the end of March.

He said people were working on preparing the area and the only issue causing a delay was the plumbing, after which the equipment would be placed in the laundry room.

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This changed when Malamule said the contractor that was hired did not do a proper job and it had to be redone. This week he confirmed that a new contractor is expected to resume work on July 1.

“According to the departmental plan, the time frame is two months. It had anticipated to complete the plumbing earlier, about a month ago.

“However, due to the complexity of the work undertaken, the completion date had to be revised hence the work has now been completed,” said Malamule.

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There are three 36-kilogram laundry machines and two driers which have been acquired and are currently stored in the adjacent doctors’ quarters at the hospital.

They are unused, while the Department of Health spends about R25 000 per month on fuel transporting dirty linen to other hospitals to get it washed, sterilised and ironed. In a year that adds up to around R300 000.

The linen is ironed and sterilised at Barberton Hospital, which is about 100 kilometres to and from Mbombela. They travel more than 400 kilometres to and from the city if laundry is washed in Bethal.

They also go to Matikwane Hospital in Buskbuckridge, which is about 200 kilometres to and from Rob Ferreira. Tintswalo Hospital in Acornhoek is another.

It is about 122 kilometres away. Patients and members of the community have raised different concerns regarding the hospital, with a number alleging that it sometimes cancels or postpones surgeries due to insufficient linen.
Others have complained that theirs was not changed for several days. The department has denied these allegations.