Johannesburg - The DA in Gauteng has slammed the Department of Health for allowing patients across 26 of the province’s hospitals to go without food.
On Monday, Gauteng DA shadow MEC of health Jack Bloom said thousands of patients at 26 of the 34 public hospitals in the province have suffered from food shortages since the start of the year.
Bloom said the reason for the shortages was due to the non-payment of suppliers.
‘’The shortages were mostly due to suppliers not being paid, contracts expiring, or companies not delivering. It was so bad for two hospitals, Bronkhorstspruit and Lenasia South, that they had to borrow food from other hospitals,’’ Bloom said.
According to Bloom, George Mukhari Academic Hospital did not have enough chicken, fish, and frozen vegetables for over four months, while milk was unavailable from February to May, and bread was out of stock for a week in May.
He said Kalafong Hospital reported that it did not have nutritional meals, which puts patients at risk of malnutrition.
‘’Their food shortages include dairy products, processed and frozen vegetables, fish, and chicken. They only have a daily amount of R2000 in petty cash, which is too little for 700 patients,’’ Bloom added.
The department said it was in the process of instituting a multi-vendor approach in Gauteng to ensure the stability of food supplies across Gauteng hospitals.
In a statement, department spokesperson Motalatale Modiba said the department had reviewed the previous practice of having single suppliers.
‘’The GDoH has reviewed the previous practice of contracting a single supplier for a broad range of items, which has proved to be the main contributing factor leading to an inconsistent food supply to hospitals. The process to appoint multiple suppliers is in its final stages to ensure that patient care is not compromised by service providers who lack the required capacity to meet the needs of facilities,’’ he said.
Since the beginning of the year, some health facilities have faced food supply challenges in varying degrees involving items such as dairy products, red meat, fish, bread, and vegetables.
Last year, doctors and staff members were forced to dig deep into their pockets to help starving patients following food shortages at the hospital.
Modiba said the department wanted to assure patients that the food challenges would be resolved.
‘’Albeit these supply challenges, the GDoH wishes to reassure families of patients and the public that in instances where a specific food item was unavailable, other arrangements were made to ensure a sustained diet for patients. For example, items such as dumplings, mashed potatoes, and bread would be served in place of rice, pap, or meal rice, while for the replacement of chicken, pilchards, macaroni and cheese, and beans would be used,’’ he said.
He said since the department had undergone a restructuring of its suppliers, there were multiple contractors who voluntarily terminated their contracts.
‘’Since the department embarked on the review process, several service providers have voluntarily terminated their contracts, attributing this to capacity constraints. This then prompted the GDoH to allow institutions, as an interim measure, to procure food items on an RFQ (request for quotation) basis to ensure an unrestricted and sustained food supply for patients.’’
‘’Furthermore, it has been observed that a few hospitals faced issues pertaining to timely payments to suppliers. However, the main issue remains the limited capacities of contracted service providers, who are unable to keep up with the demands of the facilities in terms of the orders being made,’’ he said.
The Star