Renovations have resumed at Frere Hospital’s understaffed maternity ward, which battles to cope with an average of 450 babies being delivered a month.
The hospital has come under fire from staff and the public in recent years over a shortage of beds and nurses.
In a statement posted on Facebook on Sunday, the hospital’s board and management appealed to the community to be patient while the facility underwent renovations.
They said due to East London’s population growth, about 450 babies were delivered at the unit every month.
This was a huge increase from the 50 deliveries a month when the unit was established 142 years ago.
Provincial health MEC Ntandokazi Capa’s spokesperson, Mkhululi Ndamase, said the expansion project was started in 2021 but halted a year later.
“It was originally anticipated to respond to Covid-19, having been started in October 2021 at the existing maternity building,” he said.
“The Covid-19 hospital plans were drawn up in such a way that the four new blocks would be incorporated into the existing old maternity block, post Covid-19.”
Ndamase said a new tender had been awarded and the department was awaiting a quantification report of the incomplete structure.
Once complete, the new block in the unit would include an additional 60 beds, with other obstetric services to be added.
There would be a much-needed additional maternity theatre complex.
“There are eight delivery rooms, each with a self-contained en suite facility.
“There will be wards for antenatal patients [30 beds] and postnatal patients [30 beds].”
He said the hospital had to go into contingency planning mode during the Covid-19 pandemic.
“The hospital had to use the existing scarce resources to open an additional ward in C9, a 22-bed ward, to accommodate our gynaecology patients in the main hospital, freeing up 32 beds in the M4 ward in maternity for antenatal and postnatal patients.
“Once the activated project is completed, the new beds will allow Frere Hospital to respond better to the increased demand for maternal and mental care,” Ndamase said.
In July, the Dispatch reported on shortages of both beds and staff in the maternity ward, as well as low staff morale.
Patients were forced to sleep on chairs and floors in an adjacent area while waiting to give birth.
The serious shortages were highlighted after an unannounced visit by Capa.
Capa said the situation was made worse when patients went directly to Frere without a referral.
The National Education, Health and Allied Workers Union (Nehawu) representative at Frere, Xolile Fatman, said the hospital needed to employ more nurses to cope with the large increase in patients.
“We first discussed the employing of more people at their maternity ward in May.
“They haven’t done that till today, the only thing that is happening is that people are leaving,” Fatman said.
“A lot of workers have resigned because of being overloaded with work.
“You can’t have one person doing [the job of] 10 people.”
A nurse at the hospital said despite the additional resources in the ward, it was still understaffed.
“At night, that ward becomes too much because there are very few nurses working there.
“There is not enough machinery, it’s just added beds.”
Asked about the staffing issues, Ndamase said: "The department is committed to filling vacancies within the available envelope.
“However, we cannot afford to fill all the vacancies because of the budgetary constraints that the department has been upfront about."
In June 2023, the hospital came under heavy public scrutiny after patients and staff exposed harrowing details of neglect and inadequate care at the maternity ward.
Photographs and witness statements revealed that mothers who had caesarean sections were forced to carry their newborn babies up flights of stairs while holding their drips, just a few hours after being operated on.
The lift meant to take them up to the ward has reportedly been faulty since 2021. A note plastered on the lift door prohibits use.
Staff whistle-blowers told the Dispatch it was dangerous for mothers who were still partially sedated and in pain after having had caesarean sections to use the stairs.
Pictures showed new mothers struggling to stand and walk while holding onto the staircase handrails.
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