Patients in need of major orthopaedic surgery at Steve Biko Academic Hospital in Tshwane have been dealt a massive blow, as all major operations have been postponed due to the collapse of the air conditioning system in the hospital’s operating theatre (OT) complex.
Despite efforts to contact CEO Dr Lehohonolo Majake-Mogoba for comment, she declined to take our call. However, reliable sources have confirmed that the hospital maintenance team is battling to bring the temperature systems in the OT complex under control.
The Democratic Alliance (DA) can confirm that, in the interest of patient safety, it is necessary to prevent airborne infections due to contaminants in the reticulated air in the theatre. The patients in the orthopaedic ward have been notified that their surgeries have been postponed until the problem is fixed. Shorter operations are continuing, but complex fracture repairs and hip and knee replacements have been stopped until it is safe to continue.
The temperature in an OT needs to be around 18° Celsius to prevent the spread of infection and to provide a comfortable and safe condition for patients and doctors, assistants and theatre sisters to work in. The current temperature is above 20° Celsius, making it unsafe for patients undergoing long surgeries.
Hospitals are controlled by an HVAC – heating, ventilation and air conditioning system that runs through the building, which controls heating and air quality. This is not the first time the air conditioning systems at Steve Biko have collapsed, causing major disruptions to orthopaedic surgery. In 2019, patients had to wait for more than three weeks for surgeries when the HVAC/air conditioning system broke down.
The current problem is even more severe, as the pipes throughout the hospital have not been maintained and are in dire need of replacement. Urgent intervention is needed from both the provincial and national governments.
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This situation did not arise overnight. It is a result of 30 years of lack of maintenance. The DA demands that Premier Panyaza Lesufi show leadership in this regard by holding his MEC of Health, Nomanto Nkomo-Ralehoko, and the MEC of the Department of Infrastructure Development, Jacob Mamabolo, accountable for the dire state of infrastructure in this hospital. He also needs to engage his superiors in the National Treasury to assist in providing capital to revamp the BCM and HVAC systems at Steve Biko Hospital.
A DA-led Gauteng government would prioritise patient safety by ensuring that regular maintenance of hospital infrastructure is conducted before it reaches catastrophic proportions.