Helen Joseph hit by shortage of clean linen

From shortages of medicine, nurses being brutally raped and now surgical operations being cancelled due to shortages of clean linen, Helen Joseph Hospital has had its fair share of struggles in the last few years.

The hospital which is based in Rossmore has been experiencing a shortage of clean linen throughout July.

According to DA Gauteng Shadow MEC for Health Jack Bloom, on 23 July about 25 operations were cancelled and 10 more surgery cases were cancelled on 27 July. “More than 20 operations were cancelled on 16 July and there was also disruption of surgery on 14 July and 7 July,” Bloom said.

Theatre staff at the hospital are reportedly at their wits end with all the cancellations.

“It is very distressing to tell patients that operations have to be deferred, especially with long waiting lists, which can be as long as three years for a hip operation,” said Bloom.

Bloom added that, “The linen problem is caused by erratic supply from the laundry at the Charlotte Maxeke Johannesburg Academic Hospital, which is unreliable because of a broken boiler. This linen crisis cannot be allowed to continue.”

Bloom said the hospital management should be allowed to use private laundries which are cheaper and more efficient than dysfunctional state laundries.

Questions were sent to Gauteng Health Department spokesperson Steve Mabona, and comment is awaited.

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