This morning, I was at Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital to confirm if a linen shortage continues at the hospital.
I found a fair number of beds in various wards where patients were sleeping on the plastic liner, or blankets or pyjamas had been substituted for sheets on the bed.
See photos here, here, here, and here.
It is disappointing that there is still a laundry shortage at this hospital which had serious reported shortages in November last year and in April this year.
Persistent linen shortages continue at other hospitals including the Bheki Mlangeni Hospital, and the Helen Joseph Hospital (see Facebook post here).
The department has admitted that there have been “multiple breakdowns” of laundry equipment at the five provincial laundries. Shortages have sometimes been so severe that operations have been cancelled.
A DA-run administration will review the use of inefficient and unreliable provincial laundries and make more use of cost-efficient private laundries to ensure that hospitals always have clean linen.