DA calls for urgent review of 'soaring' hospital security costs in Gauteng
Security costs at Gauteng hospitals divert money needed to improve patient care, says shadow Health MEC Jack Bloom.
FILE: Chris Hani Baragwanath Academic Hospital. Picture: Sethembiso Zulu/EWN.
702's John Perlman interviews Jack Bloom, DA shadow Health MEC in Gauteng.
The DA in Gauteng is calling for an urgent review of soaring hospital security costs in the province, which it says diverts money needed to improve patient care.
A statement issued by DA shadow Health MEC Jack Bloom details the current annual security costs compared to those of a few years ago to illustrate the rate of price hikes.
Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital now spends R77 million a year on security compared to R22 million ten years ago. Bloom also notes that the hospital CEO 'mysteriously' pays extra guards to protect herself.
R72 million a year is spent at Charlotte Maxeke Johannesburg Hospital, up from R35 million three years ago.
In response to his questions in the Gauteng Legislature, Bloom was told that in the case of Bara Hospital, Calvin and Family Security Services was awarded a three-year contract worth R232 million.
This averages out to about R23,000 per worker a month, says Bloom, whereas most Grade C Security Officers in South Africa get about R6,000 a month. (Bara has 248 Grade C officers among its 275 security staff.)
In conversation with John Maytham, Bloom says high hospital security costs have been a long-running concern, but since a change from the earlier three-year contracts that were found to be irregularly awarded, costs have not subsided.
While he acknowledges that security should be a high priority, hospitals are being ripped off, Bloom believes.
"You could have collusion in this industry... I think that if you're spending I estimate close to a billion rand a year on hospital security, something's very wrong because that money should rather go to treating patients."
Jack Bloom, DA Gauteng Shadow Health MEC
"There has been a rotation of security companies but it's the same companies just doing different hospitals. I think there's something of a cartel here and that they manage the process so they all get very lucrative contracts at the expense of patients at our hospitals."
Jack Bloom, DA Gauteng Shadow Health MEC
For more detail, listen to the interview audio at the top of the article