Johannesburg - DA spokesperson for health in Gauteng Jack Bloom said it was shocking that a total of 7457 patients picked up infections in Gauteng public hospitals last year.
Bloom said this was mostly caused by poor infection control measures. He said the DA had raised issues about cleanliness in hospitals several times before.
“These figures are revealed by Gauteng Health and Wellness MEC Nomantu Nkomo-Ralehoko in a written reply to my questions in the Gauteng Legislature,” Bloom said.
According to Bloom, the technical name for hospital-acquired infections is nosocomial, which refers to infections caught in hospitals and often caused by organisms resistant to antibiotics.
“According to the MEC, there are weekly and monthly Healthcare Associated Infection (HAI) surveillance records, but no data was collected for 2020 and 2021 because of Covid,” Bloom said.
In 2022, 7457 (6.4%) of 116 366 patients got nosocomial infections, of which 5032 (67%) were in the seven central and tertiary hospitals.
The breakdown of infections is: Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital had 1542 infections; Steve Biko Hospital had 1365 infections; Charlotte Maxeke Johannesburg Hospital had 1157 infections; Helen Joseph Hospital had 613 infections; Kalafong Hospital had 337 infections; George Mukhari Hospital had 312 infections and Tembisa Hospital had 238 infections.
“The nine regional hospitals accounted for 1617 (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 the Rahima Moosa Hospital,” Bloom said.
Among the 12 smaller district hospitals, the Kopanong and Odi hospitals had the highest number of nosocomial infections (194 and 176).
The Star made attempts to get comment from the Gauteng Department of Health in the matter, but didn’t receive it by publication.
The Star