Construction of the new Forensic Pathology Institute, which will replace Salt River Mortuary, is expected to start early next year.
|||Cape Town - Construction of the new Forensic Pathology Institute, which will replace the overburdened Salt River Mortuary, is expected to start early next year with the provincial department of health having secured the majority of the funding.
Vonita Thompson, director of forensic pathology services in the province, confirmed that the project was being prioritised with the department having secured R140 million of the R200 million needed.
Speaking at a roundtable discussion related to forensic pathology, held at UCT, Thompson said the project was expected to go out to tender before the end of this year.
To be built on Groote Schuur Hospital grounds at the corner of Main and Groote Schuur roads in Observatory, the institute is poised to be more than just a mortuary. It would consolidate pathology services offered at Salt River mortuary, mainly autopsies and other laboratory services such as entomology, odontology, histopathology and molecular forensics among other things. These ancillary services are currently scattered in different universities in the province.
Thompson said the bringing together of these services “under one roof” would not only provide a “pleasant and safe environment for staff” but would also allow a proper flow of cases that needed investigation.
While the mortuary, one of the busiest in the world, was considered as better than others in the country, it had its shortcomings.
“Salt River Mortuary was built in the 1950s during apartheid when everything was done in complete separation.
“The mortuary design doesn’t provide the fit-for-purpose physical space that allows this proper flow of cases. It doesn’t really have capacity to deal with its workload and it doesn’t meet the necessary occupation health standards,” Thompson said.
Currently performing about 3 500 autopsies a year, the mortuary’s workload was expected to increase by additional 1 500 cases by 2020.
Professor Lorna Martin, the head of forensic pathology at UCT, said the new facility allowed for a “professional caring experience by visiting families and a safe ergonometric space for staff”.
“It will allow for improved collaboration, acquisition of the latest technologies into the improved physical space, increasing our training platform and providing the country with much needed specialist forensic pathologists and forensic scientists,” she said.
She said in the city alone, over 6 000 cases were presented to the only two forensic pathology laboratories - the Tygerberg and Salt River labs - every year.
The new institute would set right the injustice to the dignity of crime victims, through provision of comprehensive services. These would include improved quality of the treatment of the deceaseds’ loved ones.
“More importantly, this centre will enable many unsolved or cold cases to be reopened and investigated with the latest technology and expertise,” she said.
Cape Argus
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