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HomeMedico-LegalLife Esidimeni inquiry: NGO had grown men sleeping in baby cots

Life Esidimeni inquiry: NGO had grown men sleeping in baby cots

Adult mental healthcare patients slept in children’s cots at an NGO to which they were moved after their removal from Life Esidimeni, heard the ongoing inquest into the death of at least 144 mental healthcare patients.

At the inquest, being heard virtually in the High Court (Pretoria), Gauteng Health
Department deputy director Dr Sophie Lenkwane said she found adult men sleeping in cots when she visited the Precious Angels NGO in July 2016.

News24 reports that the owner of the NGO Ethel Ncube had told her she had not expected to receive adults.

When Legal Aid SA Advocate Tlou Phihlela asked what she did about the situation, Lenkwane responded: “My colleague … phoned Dr (Makgabo) Manamela before we could proceed to another place. She told her that what we have found at Precious Angels is chaotic. That place should be closed as a matter of urgency.”

Despite this, the NGO was not closed, she added.

Phihlela, who is representing several NGOs at the inquest, said Ncube would testify that the two first met on 23 June 2016, when Precious Angels in Randfontein received 22 male patients. Each had one set of clothing, a container holding a toothbrush and wash cloth, and a summary of their medical conditions. The patients also reeked of urine, the inquest heard.

Phihlela said Ncube would also testify that no one from the Health Department assessed the patients when they arrived at the NGO. But Lenkwane said she could not comment on that.

In later testimony reported in another News24 article, Rochelle Gordon, who  had been tasked with escorting patients from Life Esidimeni to NGOs, maintained that all she did was follow instructions from her superiors. “They (patients) should have been accompanied as they descended from vehicles ferrying them from Life Esidimeni to NGOs. They were entering a new environment unknown to them. They should have been reassured that everything will be okay.

"The fact that they didn't know where they were going was worrying. Their belongings, records, clothing, medicine should have been kept in safe places where they wouldn't be lost,” Gordon said.

She added that on admission at the NGOs, it was expected that all patients should have been assessed by a professional nurse or medical doctor. “It was important for patients to have correct documentation when leaving Life Esidimeni. Dr Manamela rushed to license NGOs without prior auditing NGOs. It was a rushed process. I asked why we don’t follow protocol. Manamela replied that it would be corrected later,” she said.

 

News24 article – Crying shame: Men forced to sleep in children's cots at NGO after their move from Life Esidimeni (Open access)

 

News24 article – Life Esidimeni: Nurse blames former mental health head for licensing ill-equipped NGOs (Open access)

 

See more from MedicalBrief archives:

 

Dozens of former Life Esidimeni patients remain missing

 

No inspections or process followed, says ex-Life Esidimeni official

 

Inquest roundup: Life Esidimeni leader wanted to stop patient transfers

 

Asset Forfeiture Unit seizes property bought with funds ‘diverted from Life Esidimeni’

 

 

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