Gauteng Health responds shortage of clean linen at Baragwanath Hospital
The in-house laundry machines have been broken for over a month now and as a result, some operations have been rescheduled.
The Gauteng Department of Health (GDoH) has responded to a shortage of clean linen at Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital.
This comes after the publication sent inquiries regarding the hospital’s unhygienic conditions, which have caused some operations to be rescheduled.
Although patients remain without clean linen, according to the response given by the Gauteng MEC of Health, Nomantu Nkomo-Ralehoko, the department has taken the necessary steps to mitigate the temporary shortage of linen at the hospital.
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Although patients remain without clean linen, according to the response given by Nkomo-Ralehoko, the department has taken the necessary steps to mitigate the temporary shortage of linen at the hospital caused by the breakdown of the in-house laundry machines.
“A team of infrastructure technicians are working with the appointed contractor to restore the laundry service to its full capacity as speedily as possible. The breakdown of the machines has temporarily affected the normal running of the
laundry services,” Nkomo-Ralehoko said.
She added that in the interim, Bara Hospital linens are being laundered at Dunswart Laundries, where two teams of workers have been arranged to work both day and night shifts to ensure the continuous supply of clean linen for patients.
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“It is important to note that the laundry machines at the hospital are ageing and have reached the end of their operational lifespan. Despite multiple repairs, the machines continue to fail, necessitating their complete replacement.
“In response to this, the department has already submitted a Business Case to the Gauteng Provincial Treasury and the National Department of Health (NDoH) to acquire funding for the procurement of new laundry equipment.
“The provision of clean linen to patients remains a key priority and when mechanical issues arise in our system, alternative measures are implemented to sustain the service.
“To date, the NDoH has approved the request by GDoH and the installation of new machines will commence as soon as funding is granted.”
Nkomo-Ralehoko said the team of technicians will keep performing essential repairs to the existing machines to maintain operations at the laundry and to mitigate the impact on service delivery while the funding issue is being finalised to enable the procurement of new laundry equipment.
Readers can find more about the article in this week’s newspaper edition.
