Five staff members of the Mahikeng Provincial hospital in the North West, including the Hospital’s CEO have been moved to different health facilities for 60 days, while the department of health is investigating an incident where babies at the neo-natal unit were placed in cardboard boxes due to shortage of equipment.
Provincial Health MEC, Madoda Sambatha admitted that the hospital is faced with a serious leadership crisis.
The preliminary report indicates that these managers have allegedly not been reporting incidents, and making sure that there are sufficient resources.
Sambatha elaborates: “Managers of the facility must be made to account formally. From the incident that occurred last Saturday, till now, we don’t have any formal report by managers as to what had happened and what were the reasons and what they have done as the management.”
“There’s a glaring lack of responsibility of management. The report points to them. The CEO is included in the five.”
Health workers’ unions, which were against the suspension of any health worker, have welcomed this report.
National Education, Health and Allied Workers’ Union (Nehawu), Regional Chairperson, Zanele Lawu says, “Indeed, the findings point directly to what we said, that our members as nurses and doctors who were in charge on that day, made sterling work of safely delivering babies.”
Democratic Nursing Organisation of South Africa (Denosa) regional chairperson, Tshepo Monoketsi says, “We welcome the transfer to other institutions, it will not be a permanent thing. It’s just for a temporary situation to address and allow the investigation to kick in. Unions will also form part of that to make sure that the process is also fair.”
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