Community fears grow as Tembisa hospital hit by second fire in five days

With the Tembisa Provincial Tertiary Hospital having suffered two separate fire incidents in a space of five days, questions are being raised on the safety of patients and community members who rely on this hospital for their health-related needs. 

On Wednesday afternoon, Deputy minister of health Dr Joe Phaahla, who visited the hospital promised a speedy turnaround time on the two investigations and restoration of the two different sections of the Tembisa Provincial Tertiary Hospital amid fears of more fire incidents.

The provincial hospital suffered its second fire in the early hours of Wednesday morning following a blaze that gutted the Accident and Emergency Unit on Saturday afternoon, resulting in the diversion of patients to other facilities in and around Ekurhuleni.

The second incident is said to have resulted the hospital suffered its first fire which destroyed the outpatient unit housed adjacent to the Accident and Emergency Unit, already declared unfit for use until further notice.

"As the Department we appeal for patience and calm from the residents of Tembisa who rely on this hospital for their health needs. We have learnt some lessons from the Charlotte Maxeke Hospital fire as well as the Tambo Memorial Hospital fire and we will use those lessons in order to ensure that we speed up.

"We will make sure that once the forensic investigators are done; we hand over the building back to the hospital so that the work of structural engineers begins as soon as possible. The National department will be working together with the province like we did with Tambo Memorial Hospital, " Phaahla said.

Tshwarelo Pudi, a ward Councilor in the area, indicated that the community feels apprehensive over the two incidents of fire which have affected services at the hospital.

"The community is very much apprehensive and fearful. We are worried about what is happening at the hospital as, in a space of five days, we have experience two fires. It is a very big concern to the people of ward 39 who are much closer to the hospital. We just hope that these investigations will be concluded speedily, and we'll be informed of what is the root cause of these fires," he said.

Phaahla said the two fires in a space of five days is a big concern both for the national and provincial departments adding that he and the province will work hand in hand to restore the hospital to its original state without any delays amid fears of corruption and prolonged investigations.

"It is a big concern for us that we have these fires. We do not want the repeat of what happened at Charlotte Maxeke Hospital. What we know is that the two fires are distinct and different. At the moment, we do not want to speculate. We have got the team here from the SAPS and other specialists' teams who are digging through and only the specialist persons will be able to tell us if they find patterns. It was reported that an unknown number of patient files have been destroyed in the fires at the Tembisa Provincial Tertiary Hospital in Ekurhuleni, Gauteng, emergency services confirmed on Wednesday.

Sabelo Dlomo, a community member said with two fires in five days, he fears what could be the reason for these fires.

"We are deeply concerned as who could be responsible for causing these fires. We as members of the community would like to see a speedy investigation into the cause of the fire as patients are now suffering as a result," he said.

However, responding to this, acting CEO for Tembisa Hospital, Dr Rianna Louw, revealed that most of the files had already been digitised which will make patients files available to their owners. "It's only the patient files that were destroyed in the fire; however, these files will still be available as the hospital had recently begun the process of digitising them," Louw said.

siyabonga.sithole@inl.co.za