HOT Cares Celebrates Mandela Day by Revamping Paediatric Ward Bathrooms at Baragwanath

Looking ahead to this year’s Mandela Day, the Hot Cares team got together and spent some time giving serious thought as to how we could do justice to this important day and pay proper tribute to Madiba – an icon of South African history – and we came up with something we feel Madiba would have been proud of, because he had such a love of children.

Our project this Mandela Day involves the Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital and the incredible ‘Surgeons for Little Lives’ team there.

The Hot Cares relationship with Surgeons for Little Lives goes back to December, when the team were on hand to help out 10-year-old Diego, who was suffering from acute appendicitis, had been operated on four times and had contracted septicaemia, leading to his aunt contacting us in tears, pleading for help.

Diego went on to receive life-saving treatment at Baragwanath, proving just how important the work that Surgeons for Little Lives do, is.

“Hot Cares was overwhelmed by the team of paediatric surgeons and staff who believe that these beautiful children deserve the same care and treatment given to those who are privileged to be able to receive treatment from the private sector,” says Carmen Rocha of Hot Cares. “Many times, these team members pay for the patient’s basic needs, such as taxi fare, toiletries, or over-the-counter medicine that they need but can’t afford, or is not provided for by the hospital.”

The Hot Cares team recently visited the Surgeons for Little Lives team at Baragwanath and saw first-hand what wonderful work they do, but at the same time, the challenges they face in this paediatric ward, where they have up to 40 children at a time, all needing life-changing operations and care.

One of the main challenges we identified was the condition of the bathroom and ablution facilities, which were old and hadn’t been maintained.

This is such an important part of the Surgeons for Little Lives offering that this jumped out at us as the area in which Hot Cares could offer some help.

As a result, in honour of Madiba, over the next few weeks we will be giving the bathrooms, ablutions and other areas within the ward a make-over and revamp. We will be putting in new baths and additional showers, reducing the supervision time needed, and freeing up more time for the nursing staff.

The bathroom windows will also be repaired and heaters will be installed to keep the children warm at bath time. They will also be repainted and have bath toys and mobiles to brighten up the room and keep the children occupied, especially when they are in pain and having treatment in the bath.

Happy Mandela Day Surgeons for Little Lives and Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital!