Five managers from Mahikeng Hospital have been transferred on a “precautionary basis” after it was revealed that babies at the institution were sleeping in cardboard boxes instead of incubators or cribs.
Two other managers who were suspended, have been reinstated, said North West Health MEC Madoda Sambatha.
Releasing a report last week that formed part of a multi-phased approach to resolve some of the challenges at the hospital, he said the preliminary investigation had uncovered allegations of serious misconduct against management.
The report called for five management staff to be temporarily transferred to nearby facilities to allow the investigation to continue unhindered, according to News24.
“I have also reviewed my decision about the precautionary suspension of the two officials after the report’s release. The precautionary suspension was never punitive but to give space to ascertain whether their presence would interfere with the investigation,” said Sambatha.
He added that the hospital has consistently experienced high bed utilisation rate, particularly in the neonatal, orthopaedic and 72-hour psychiatric units, and that the postnatal unit would now be moved to gynaecology to allow that space to be converted into a neonatal ward to accommodate 79 incubators and cribs.
“The clinical space will be increased with additional beds; the orthopaedic beds will be increased from 46 to 66, with a separate female ward. An additional 15 beds in the Bophelong Psychiatric Hospital will be reserved for female patients on 72-hour observation,” he said.
Additional incubators had been sent to the hospital immediately after the department heard about the cardboard box issue, he said, and an investigation launched straight away, reports TimesLIVE.
Sambatha had said the initial internal probe found the incident happened on Saturday, and management was not alerted.
He saw the photos only on the following Thursday, he said, and immediately launched a probe, sending a provincial team from the nursing division, labour relations and quality assurance departments to the hospital to investigate.
“We were told that on the day (20 May 20), there were 47 incubators and cribs, meaning any baby delivered (beyond that number), would’ve been extra.
“By 11am on Saturday, 56 babies had been delivered safely. So the mothers were safe, the babies were safe.”
He blamed hospital management for failing to control the influx of expectant mothers to the facility beyond its capacity, saying it was a function that was under their control, and also blamed them for failing to report the shortage of incubators and cribs to the acting CEO as well as failure to monitor the situation as it was unfolding.
He insisted the provincial department was never alerted to the situation until the images appeared on social media, and that the five managers, who were relocated, had to give the department “formal accountability”.
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