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Tom London Video: Helen Joseph Hospital ombud report reveals substandard care, staff shortages, leadership ‘breakdown’

Tom London Video: Helen Joseph Hospital ombud report reveals substandard care, staff shortages, leadership ‘breakdown’
Tamsin Metelerkamp
By Tamsin Metelerkamp
10 Mar 2025
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The health ombud and the Office of Health Standards Compliance have urged the Gauteng Department of Health to take urgent action to address problems of poor infrastructure, staff shortages and unstable leadership at Helen Joseph Tertiary Hospital.

The investigation into allegations of poor management at Helen Joseph Tertiary Hospital in Gauteng by the health ombud followed a 2024 incident when radio personality Thomas Holmes – also known as Tom London – shared a viral video claiming he had experienced substandard care at the facility.

At a media briefing on Monday, 10 March 2025, Health Ombud Prof Taole Mokoena said his office had investigated seven allegations cited in Holmes’ video, and found that two were substantiated: that Holmes was kept in the emergency department for three days due to the unavailability of admission beds in the medical wards; and that Helen Joseph Hospital had poor infrastructure that was not up to standard.

On Holmes’ three-day wait in the emergency department, Mokoena said that “it constitutes a breach of one of the regulations, being regulation number 22 of the norms and standards, which [requires] that the health establishment should monitor waiting periods to avoid inordinate delays.”

Among the infrastructural issues the health ombud identified at Helen Joseph were peeling paint on the ceilings and walls, broken basins and taps, non-functioning electrical plugs and a poor water supply to wards above the seventh floor due to a weak pumping system.

Holmes’ viral video


In early September 2024, Holmes posted a Facebook live video from Helen Joseph Hospital where he had been admitted after contracting pneumonia. He showed the poor state of a bathroom at the hospital and spoke about the “uncaring” attitudes of some doctors when it came to the care of patients. 

After releasing the video, Holmes moved to a private health facility for further care, with the help of donations from the public, according to a TimesLIVE report.



Mokoena said that the Office of the Health Ombud had found five of Holmes’ allegations to be unsubstantiated, including the claim that:

  • Doctors and student doctors treated patients disrespectfully or as “cockroaches”;

  • The X-ray department forgot to give a contrast medium with his initial CT scans;

  • Holmes was not seen by a doctor for more than 48 hours;

  • The clinical care provided to Holmes was of poor quality; and

  • Another patient who died was left for hours before the body was removed from the cubicle where Holmes was admitted.


However, Mokoena added that outside of Holmes’ claims, the Office of the Health Ombud had found “some additional problems” at Helen Joseph Hospital.


Staff shortages and ‘dysfunctional’ management


A key finding in the health ombud’s report was that Helen Joseph Hospital was using an organisational structure from 2006, leading to staff shortages. Despite being gazetted as a tertiary hospital, the staff establishment was never revised to reflect this.

The investigation found that about a third (30.2%) of the funded nursing posts were vacant.

“A number of resignations have been snowballing within [the nursing] cadre, especially at the emergency department… As [nurses] resigned, those that were left behind [found] the workload, which was extreme in the first instance, became even worse,” said Mokoena.

The health ombud also found that there was a shortage or non-delivery of certain foodstuffs at the hospital, largely due to non-payment or delayed payment of service providers.

“There’s no inventory management system at all, and soiled and dirty linen are left to pile up at the hospital before being transported to an outside laundry. This is a major issue, and because of lack of inventory, the hospital doesn’t know what has been sent to the laundry… [and] what has come back. As a result, there’s a shortage of linen and patients have to lie in bed without clean linen,” said Mokoena.

Other problems identified by the health ombud included:

  • A “completely dysfunctional” human resources (HR) department, with a “general breakdown of authority” within HR management;

  • A lack of stable, professional senior management, with most senior posts – including the position of CEO – occupied by acting personnel;

  • The absence of written policies or standard operating procedures at the facility;

  • Inadequate security, with security personnel at entrance and exit points demonstrating a “laissez faire” attitude; and

  • The lack of a clear separation of duties within the finance department, which increased the risk of unpaid accounts, wrongful payments and corruption.


Recommendations


The health ombud’s report concluded that the clinical care provided to Holmes was adequate and appropriate despite the challenges at Helen Joseph Hospital. However, it noted that the health facility was inadequately resourced and “not fit for purpose”.

Mokoena recommended that the Gauteng Department of Health needed to review the staff establishment at Helen Joseph and fill vacant posts. The department was instructed to appoint a CEO within six months of the report being released, and appoint staff for all funded vacant posts within three months.

“The Gauteng [Head of Department] for Health must urgently appoint an independent forensic and audit firm within two months to conduct a competency assessment of the leadership and management staff at [Helen Joseph] to check if they are fit for purpose [and] assess the need for upskilling,” the health ombud’s report said.

“The Premier of Gauteng Province should ensure that [Helen Joseph] is prioritised for refurbishment within six months.”

The health ombud recommended that the CEO of Helen Joseph should develop a tracking system to identify the total number of patients at the hospital, including those still awaiting beds, and the dietary requirements of these patients.

The hospital was also instructed to improve security services, laundry operations, governance standards, and finance and supply chain management. 

The Office of Health Standards Compliance (OHSC) produced its own risk-based assessment report on Helen Joseph Hospital. At Monday’s press briefing, both reports were handed over to Minister of Health Dr Aaron Motsoaledi. 



The OHSC inspections, conducted from 11-13 September 2024, and again from 2-5 December 2024, found “serious contraventions of the prescribed norms and standards regulations for quality and safety” at Helen Joseph, including the poor condition of hospital infrastructure. 

OHSC CEO Dr Siphiwe Mndaweni said most of the challenges identified at the hospital could be attributed to “the instability of hospital leadership” and the “lack of a functional governing structure to provide oversight… and accountability to hospital operations”.

“The shortages of staff were reported in various departments. This included nurses, mortuary attendants and cleaning staff… It was very difficult to actually even determine the vacancy rate because of poor record-keeping,” she said.

“We urge the Gauteng Department of Health, working with the district, to take full responsibility and accountability in addressing some of the urgent issues that we have pointed out in the reports. Immediate attention should be given to stabilising the leadership structure at Helen Joseph.” DM

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