Deputy Speaker, the UCDP knows that health services are a real cause for concern and that, if we are not alert to the situation, we shall soon be faced with an inevitable collapse of services. That is if the circumstances around the Brits Hospital and other hospitals are not kept in check.
Parts of the Brits District Hospital in the North West province operate in poorly ventilated prefabricated buildings that are being used as wards whilst the new structure is being built. The hospital does not have a mortuary, resulting in massive delays before corpses are removed. It is not uncommon to see corpses lying in the casualty ward for hours, posing a health risk to other patients, whilst waiting to be moved to a mortuary. Some wards operate as storage room for gas cylinders, which are placed too close to beds, posing a fire hazard.
Last year, the North West department of labour threatened to close down the facility after it had failed health and safety measures. The facility's management was given until 15 November 2011 to rectify the situation, but nothing has happened and, not surprisingly, the labour department hasn't gone back to follow up on its findings. Key official posts remain vacant, such as the clinical manager, accountant and assistant director.
Even more worrying and unsettling are the allegations that workers at the hospital are being harassed and threatened with dismissal by the hospital's management as they are being accused and suspected of whistle-blowing. With conditions like this in our hospitals, it is no wonder that a number of people decide to die at home peacefully. [Time expired.]