Criminal case after patient’s death at hospital
Fighting for justice after the death of his wife.
The SAPS is now handling the investigation into the death of a Deelkraal resident in Carletonville Hospital.
Mrs Johanna Elizabeth Van Der Mescht (70) died in the hospital on 22 March after four and a half days. Since then, her husband, Andre, has been fighting to hold the hospital staff he believes were responsible for her death accountable for their actions.
Although his wife became HIV positive when they were apart in the early 1990s, she had been on antiretrovirals for the past 25 years.
While they kept her alive, the drugs from government clinics also caused kidney damage, resulting in her admission to the hospital early this year.
She was later re-admitted due to severe anaemia, but despite her husband's pleas to let him help take care of her, hospital staff allegedly refused.
“Despite my wife being elderly, extremely frail and ill and in critical condition, she was not considered a priority.
They left her without an examination or a running drip for several hours,” Mr Van der Mescht told the Herald earlier this year.
His wife, who was in the TB ward, was not transferred to another hospital when fluid build-up, among other things, caused her condition to worsen.
“The hospital did not even know that my wife had entered the last phase of the death cycle on 22 March.
I found her dying in Ward 5 by chance after meeting with the CEO that morning,” he had told the Herald. The hospital had also negligently reported that his wife had died on 23 March 2023, resulting in him travelling up and down at his cost to try and rectify this gross error.
Mr Van der Mescht says he has been in continuous contact with Carletonville Hospital over the case since then.
He also received confirmation on 3 October that the Carletonville police were investigating a culpable homicide case regarding his wife's death.
Although the Herald contacted Carletonville Hospital's communication officer, Mr Matabo Letsoalo, about whether the management had taken disciplinary measures against any of the staff involved in Mrs Van der Mescht's care before her death, the publication had received no feedback by printing time.
