Health minister Dr Aaron Motsoaledi wants action taken against those implicated in the deaths of psychiatric patients at the Northern Cape Mental Health Hospital (NCMHH) and Robert Mangaliso Sobukwe Hospital (RMSH).
This comes after health ombud Prof Taole Mokoena revealed alarming levels of systemic failure, gross negligence and mismanagement at the hospitals, which have resulted in unnecessary suffering and preventable deaths. The failures include:
- prolonged power outages;
- leaking roofs;
- blocked sewerage systems; and
- the absence of emergency equipment.
One of the patients died from hypothermia, another developed multilobar pneumonia, while another was believed to have developed intracranial coagulation and a stroke from extreme cold.
Motsoaledi questioned the doctors' ability to perform their roles.
“I haven’t practised for a long time but I can’t imagine a doctor finding a medically ill patient with pneumonia and referring them to the mental unit without treating the pneumonia. That is unheard of,” he said.
“Now what do we make of this? All doctors and nurses are trained in the same institutions in the country. How come those doctors acted that way?”
He said poor leadership led to the tragedy.
“I can guess that they don’t even have management meetings, even mortality meetings — because if they did, some of these things would’ve been picked up.
“I’m particularly disappointed about the RMSH because I was there when the hospital was opened. It was one of the best. In my speech I mentioned that for it to be one of the best, it needed the management to be on their toes all the time. It means that didn’t happen. They had facilities that many other hospitals didn’t have, so there is a failure of management.”
The Northern Cape department of health welcomed the health ombudsman's investigation report and committed to improving patient care.
“The department recognises the critical importance of mental health services and the vulnerability of psychiatric patients,” spokesperson Lebogang Majaha said.
“We are dedicated to implementing necessary improvements to prevent similar incidents from occurring in the future.”
TimesLIVE
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