These Gauteng hospitals accounted for over 7 000 patients being infected last year

Nearly 7 500 patients picked up an infection in Gauteng public hospitals in the last year, mostly due to poor infection control measures.

This was revealed by Gauteng Health and Wellness MEC Nomantu Nkomo-Ralehoko in a written reply to Democratic Alliances (DA) shadow MEC for health Jack Bloom in the Gauteng Legislature.

The technical name for hospital-acquired infections is nosocomial, which refers to infections caught in hospitals, often caused by organisms resistant to antibiotics.

Bloom said Nkomo-Ralehoko indicated there are weekly and monthly Healthcare Associated Infection (HAI) surveillance records, but no data was collected for 2020 and 2021 in Gauteng because of Covid-19.

“In 2022, 7 457 (6.4%) of 116 366 patients got nosocomial infections of which 5032 were in the seven central and tertiary hospitals.”

Hospitals with infections

• Chis Hani Baragwanath Hospital – 1 542 infections
• Steve Biko Hospital – 1 365 infections
• Charlotte Maxeke Johannesburg Hospital – 1 157 infections
• Helen Joseph Hospital – 613 infections
• Kalafong Hospital – 337 infections
• George Mukhari Hospital – 312 infections
• Tembisa Hospital – 238 infections

“The nine regional hospitals accounted for 1 617 (22%) of all hospital-acquired infections, ranging from 138 infections at Pholosong Hospital to 626 infections at Leratong hospital, which is more than double the next highest figure of 255 infections at Rahima Moosa Hospital.

Amongst the 12 smaller district hospitals, the Kopanong and Odi hospitals had the highest number of nosocomial infections – 194 and 176 respectively,” Bloom said.

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Concerns

Bloom said it is distressing that “more than one in twenty patients will pick up an infection while in hospital”.

“There appears to be a sharp rise in nosocomial infections as there were only 975 such infections in 2014 according to a previous official reply to questions, but this may partly be due to improved monitoring. Whereas Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital had 376 nosocomial infections in 2014, these have rocketed to 1 542 last year.

“The latest figures indicate the need for tight infection controls and proper hygiene to cut hospital infections as much as possible,” he said.

Bloom also raised concerns about the 468 cases of Klebsiella Pneumonia, which has caused deaths of babies in previous outbreaks.

“The antibiotic-resistant infections are a particular horror as they are difficult to treat, leading to longer hospital stays and sometimes even death,” Bloom said.

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