Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital is investigating a case of negligence after a newborn baby was incorrectly released to the wrong mother, which was spotted only after an alert security office at the hospital gate noticed the baby boy’s name tag did not match that of the mother.
Gauteng Health spokesperson Motalatale Modiba told TimesLIVE the the guard immediately alerted the nursing staff.
“However, instead of probing the matter, one of them just cut the tag and changed it to the correct one. They did this without checking how the child ended up with the wrong tag. It was only an hour later that it was discovered they had released the wrong baby.”
Modiba said the duty staff did not follow standard operating procedure when discharging the mother and baby.
“Both the woman and the baby were fetched from their home within a couple of hours. Health checks were conducted on the baby before he reunited with his biological mother,” he said.
The families were receiving counselling to help them cope with the ordeal.
Gauteng Health MEC Nomantu Nkomo-Ralehoko thanked the security officer for his alertness and apologised to both mothers.
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