AT least 26 out of 34 Gauteng public hospitals have suffered food shortages since January 2023.
These shortages include dairy products, red meat, fish, bread and vegetables.
Gauteng Health MEC Nomantu Nkomo-Ralehoko revealed this in her written reply to a question from the DA's Jack Bloom in the legislature.
According to Nkomo-Ralehoko, shortages were mostly due to suppliers not being paid, contracts expiring, or companies not delivering.
She described the scenes as being bad when two hospitals, Bronkhorstspruit and Lenasia South, had to borrow food from other hospitals.
Other hospitals like George Mukhari Academic Hospital lacked chicken, fish and frozen vegetables for four months, milk and bread were out of stock for a week in May.
Kalafong hospital on the other hand saw at least 700 patients without meals resulting in 'hospital-induced malnutrition' because they had shortage of dairy products, processed and frozen vegetables, fish and chicken Nkomo-Ralehoko said.
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In Steve Biko hospital she said they had to use petty cash to buy milk, and used Request For Quotation (RFQ) to get chicken after the supplier withdrew from the contract while Helen Joseph hospital had “sporadic” shortages of frozen food and dry groceries.
According to Nkomo-Ralehoko, at some stage patients had to buy their own food at the cafeteria and use food delivery services while others skipped meals due to repetitions and lack of variety.
The MEC said other hospitals that are experiencing food shortages include:
Chris Hani Baragwanath
Edenvale
Sebokeng
Tambo Memorial
Thelle Mogoerane
Yusuf Dadoo
Bertha Gxowa
Pretoria West
Jubilee
Bheki Mlangeni
Tshwane District
Carletonville
Tembisa
Tshwane Rehab
Cullinan Care Rehab
Sizwe Tropical Disease
Tara H Moross
In their efforts to address the issue of food shortage in public hospitals, Gauteng Health spokesman Motalatale Modiba said the department has moved through to the 'advanced stages' of the multi-vendor approach.
"The Gauteng Department of Health (GDoH) has reviewed the previous practice of contracting a single supplier for a broad range of items which has proved to be the main contributing factor leading to inconsistent food supply to hospitals.
"The process to appoint multiple suppliers is in its final stages to ensure that patient care is not compromised by service providers who lack the required capacity to meet the needs of facilities," Modiba said.
Although the Modiba vowed that the department would monitor the situation to ensure that patient care is in no way affected during this transitional phase, Bloom was not convinced.
Bloom called out the department for the food shortage crisis while holding them accountable.
He further rubbished the department and said it's shameful that hospitals still struggle with the simple matter of food provision.
