Health
1. (a) What is the (i) cause and (ii) extent of the damage, including affected sections of the building, caused by the fire that broke out at the Vredendal Hospital, (b) what will be the impact of the damage on service delivery at the hospital, (c) what is the number of (i) patients and (ii) staff who were affected by the fire, (d) what is the number of persons who were treated for fire-related injuries resulting from the incident and (e) what has been the Department’s response to the fire;
2. whether there are any patients and/or staff who has been be transferred to other hospitals; if not, why not; if so, what are the relevant details;
3. (a) what will be the estimated cost to renovate the hospital following the fire damage, (b) when will renovations start and (c) when will these renovations be completed?
1. [a][i] During the night of Saturday 28th to Sunday 29th May 2022, one of the patients, occupying a single ward, allegedly set fire to the mattress and bed;
- . [ii] The damage was assessed as:
- The ward where the patient had been who allegedly had started the fire is very badly damaged
- The adjacent passageways and wards have smoke damage but were not directly damaged by the fire
- The water used to extinguish the fire also did some damage to e.g. the floors.
- Furniture and equipment were coated with soot but not physically damaged
[b] The hospital was evacuated while the blaze was extinguished and until the fire officials had declared it safe to re-enter. The COVID “field ward” which had been constructed during one of the worse waves of the epidemic – the old boiler room has been converted and was reopened. Ex-Ward B patients who could safely be discharged were discharged. Those who could not safely be discharged were transferred to the new ward as soon as it was ready. The hospital EC remained operational for emergencies.
[c] [i] 33 patients were admitted to the ward at the time of the fire and they were all evacuated safely by staff. Debriefing and psychological support were provided by inhouse Psychologist and social worker to the affected patients.
[ii] 11 nursing staff, 2 doctors, 3 security guards and 3 household aids were on duty the night of the fire and they all assisted with the safe evacuation of patients. A debriefing session was conducted by Metropolitan Health later that day.
[d] No deaths or major injuries amongst patients or staff. 3 patients suffered minor effects of smoke inhalation but fully recovered.
[e] The hospital, as with all of the facilities, follows a Major Incident Response Plan in case of emergencies. This plan is in place to guide all relevant support required. The emergency plan is updated annually, vetted and signed off by disaster response.
2. No patients needed to be transferred as the COVID “field ward” which had been constructed during one of the worse waves of the epidemic – the old boiler room has been converted and was reopened. Ex-Ward B patients who could safely be discharged were discharged. Those who could not safely be discharged were transferred to the new ward as soon as it was ready.
3. [a] The repair cost is estimated at around R1.2m, although the exact cost is not known since the work is being done on our framework agreement with quantities are to be verified before final payment.
[b] The repairs have already started.
[c] Repairs are scheduled to be completed by the end of June.
