Patient catches 20 rats in Rob Ferreira Hospital

When Willie Smith was admitted in the now notorious Rob Ferreira Provincial Hospital last week for treatment on his arm, he never dreamt he would become the Pied Piper of Hamelin, catching rats by the dozen.  In one night alone, Smith managed to catch no fewer than 20 rats.

“These little critters are running havoc in the hospital. I was in ward 2, room 1, and at 22:00 they ‘came out to play’. If the infestation weren’t such a serious matter, it could even have been funny,” he said.  On his first night in hospital, Smith could not believe his eyes when rats were popping out from every nook and cranny.

“I thought by myself, this cannot be true. When I investigated, I found a hole next to the toilet drainpipe in one of the bathrooms. The next morning, I asked someone to bring me some concrete, which I used to plug up the hole in an effort to block them out.  “But the next night, they were back in their hordes, even running all over patients in their beds.”

That is when Smith decided to take stern action. He bought rat traps and glue paste. He rubbed the paste on some boards and put a little food on them. Within a few hours, he caught several rats that had stuck to the boards. On Sunday night, his campaign bagged no fewer than 20 rats. During an investigation done by him, Smith found a nest with six small rats in it. The nest was lined with paper and plastic and was found in a toilet that actually doubled as a storeroom.

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In one of the rooms in ward 2, another patient was complaining after he found rats on his bed close to an open wound he had on his leg. The problem, however, is not isolated to ward 2.  “We don’t have TVs in the rooms. So at night we watch as the rats crawl out of a hole in the ceiling and run along the curtain railings and on the plug boxes behind our bed,” a patient in ward 6 told Lowvelder.

The rat infestation problem is not only experienced in the wards, but all over the hospital. One patient, who wanted to remain anonymous due to fear of intimidation, said he walks around at night when he cannot sleep.  “You must see the number of rats running around outside. The cats on the premises are so fat, they don’t even attempt to catch the rats anymore.”

Just before being discharged, three senior managers spoke to Smith about the matter.  “I showed them the boxful of rats I managed to kill.  “They even had the audacity to ask me to please not share the info or pictures with the media!” Smith said.

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Media enquiries were sent to Forster Mohale, spokesperson of the National Department of Health.  “The national Departmental of Health will engage the province on this matter to provide assistance and guidance where possible, because we put the health and safety of our healthcare workers, patients and their families first, as our priority. We haven’t yet received report from the province on this incident,” Mohale said.

The Mpumalanga Department of Health’s spokesperson, Dumisani Malamule, said the hospital had rat baits installed in all wards in 2021.  “We, however, acknowledge the fact that rats accessed the ward through a broken pipe on Sunday June 12, 2022, and this has since been ratified as rat poison was placed in the area,” said Malamule.

“The hospital has finalised the procurement of pest control services to deal with all pests, including rats.”  Malamule said the contractor would start work on Thursday June 16.

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