The Office of the Public Protector has found that staff failed to report the rape of a minor patient at Stellenbosch Hospital to police, despite a nurse at the Adolescent Psychiatric Unit reportedly witnessing the incident.
The 15-year-old girl, who was receiving psychiatric treatment at the time, was allegedly raped by another patient at the hospital in September 2021, but instead of alerting the police, the hospital advised the patient’s mother to report it herself, reports News24.
Acting Public Protector Kholeka Gcaleka released the office’s investigation reports last week, saying that such a failure fell short “of what was expected of the hospital staff in terms of the relevant legal prescripts”.
Since the rape, the Western Cape Department of Health and Wellness has provided in-service training to staff on reporting patient safety incidents, and posted a security guard at the ward.
A quality improvement programme for mental healthcare has also been developed and implemented and shown an immediate improvement in care, and compliance with the Mental Health Care Act.
Staff who acted improperly were disciplined internally.
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