Faulty air-conditioning units delay surgeries at Steve Biko
Faulty air conditioning units at the Steve Biko Hospital in Tshwane have resulted in the delay and increased waiting times for patients needing to receive orthopedic surgery.
Spokesperson for the provincial Department of Health Kwara Kekana says the units started giving in at the beginning of November.
Kekana says the process of repairing the conditioning units started immediately when the faults were detected.
"The department of infrastructure are in the processes of sourcing some of the parts from abroad which are not readily available."
In a statement, the Democratic Alliance (DA) say the hospital has top-class surgeons but equipment breakdowns and other failures often prevent them from doing their work.
"It is unacceptable that a critical air-conditioning unit is out of order for so long at a major hospital. It needs to be fixed or replaced as soon as possible,” the party’s Jack Bloom says.