'Dead babies' hospital: Premier shocked

Syringes being used more than once, babies lying in soiled cribs and nurses chatting instead of looking after premature infants. These are just some of the shocking claims made by parents whose babies died at a Joburg hospital earlier this year. It took one meeting with the parents of the six babies who died at Charlotte Maxeke Johannesburg Academic Hospital to convince Premier Nomvula Mokonyane that an investigation into staff negligence needs to be reopened.

Mokonyane and MEC for Health and Social Development Qedani Mahlangu sat for two hours with five parents of the six babies who died at the hospital in May. Earlier in the week, Mahlangu released a report which found the babies had died from a potent version of norovirus and that no hospital or staff negligence could be found. The MEC did say there was a problem with overcrowding and a shortage of materials, such as roller towels for nurses to dry their hands.

Mahlangu said she took responsibility for what happened onto her own shoulders. She did not give the public the actual report, but rather a summarised version. On the same day, a separate report presented in Parliament gave very different results. The second report, which was presented to the portfolio committee on health, said laboratory tests found klebsiella pneumonia in some of the sick babies and in their milk bottles.

The parliamentary report found norovirus and klebsiella in most of the 17 sick babies who were in the ward. The report also said the milk feeding room needed attention and that bottles and cleaning brushes were found to be old and rusty. Mokonyane told the media that meeting the parents was an eye-opener, and they were surprised to hear parents' observations about the attitudes and conduct of the nurses. "We will be investigating whether there was negligence of the team on duty," the premier said. "If we conclude that there was negligence, we will take appropriate action and make sure there is no repeat of bad behaviour." She said the initial report released earlier this week was a clinical report compiled by doctors, which they had accepted as final, but after talking to the parents, they would investigate claims of negligence further.

Mokonyane said parents had noticed a lack of hygiene, bad attitudes from nurses and multiple use of instruments that are supposed to be used only once. She said the parents had told her they had come into the ward and found children had vomited and had not been cleaned; syringes that were used more than once; and instead of telling them what was wrong with their children, nurses refused to speak to them because they were eating chips and busy gossipping.

The premier said the department had told the parents they had the right to sue for compensation, but the department could not offer them money without going through the courts. "No amount of money can compensate for life. I think the parents' biggest concern is that we must make sure this never happens again. We have learnt from this and need to make sure that this never happens again," she added.

Source: IoL