Five worst hospitals in South Africa

Rats and cockroaches, discarded wheelchairs, and babies sharing incubators are just some of the things the Democratic Alliance has found at the "five worst public hospitals in South Africa".

DA MP Dianne Kohler-Barnard on Wednesday named Gauteng's Natalspruit Hospital, the Eastern Cape's Umtata General and Cecilia Makiwane hospitals, Mpumalanga's Rob Ferreira Hospital and Mahatma Gandhi Memorial Hospital in KwaZulu Natal as the party's pick of the country's most disgraceful hospitals.

More worrying, she said, was that three of the hospitals - Rob Ferreira, Umtata and Natalspruit - were part of the health department's much trumpeted hospital revitalisation plan.

However, the party had found little evidence of the effects of the programme at the targeted hospitals.

A spokesperson for Health Minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang on Wednesday said the DA had not used any "clear criteria" in selecting the five hospitals and that no full assessments were made.

He said the budget for the hospital revitalisation programme had been increased to R1-billion in the current financial year, which would enable the department to address the challenges.

In the case of Rob Ferreira, the department reportedly spent R180-million renovating facilities last year, according to a departmental report on provincial health services.

The department said it had also budgeted for an entire upgrade of Natalspruit Hospital in the next financial year.

Kohler-Barnard said a series of parliamentary questions indicating massive skills gaps at these hospitals had indicated "which hospitals to home in on".

She had then made surprise visits to all the hospitals, barring Mahatma Gandhi Memorial, where she said authorities were tipped off about her impending visit. A fellow DA official had visited instead.

"At the worst hospitals, patients must spend hours waiting for a file; bring their own linen; stay in wards infested with vermin and reeking of human waste; and often share beds with other patients.

"Hospital buildings are infested with grime, rubbish and vermin. In these conditions it is patently obvious that the rights of patients are not being respected and that urgent action is required," she said.

Her visit to Umtata General, which serves about 1,5 million people, showed the hospital to have "clearly visible" mice and "shining toxic waste" at the entrance.

At Natalspruit she had found two babies sharing an incubator, as well as a dire shortage of beds and respirators in the maternity ward.

Kohler-Barnard added: "There is no question in my mind that the buck stops with the minister. Her job is to provide healthcare for South Africans, and when I see what South Africans are put through when they go to these hospitals, it is absolutely heartbreaking."

Kohler-Barnard said the DA planned to conduct a publicity campaign over the next year to ensure action was taken at the five hospitals.