DA Vosloorus hospital ‘was warned’ before babies started dying

Thelle Mogoerane Hospital CEO Nomonde Mqhayi-Mbambo was warned about deadly infection risks in the neonatal ward, but failed to take action that could have averted the deaths of two babies from Klebsiella infection, the DA alleges.

Jack Bloom, shadow MEC of health in Gauteng, said: “I have seen a memorandum dated 18 May this year that was sent by the staff at the neonatal ward where seven babies became infected with Klebsiella in July and August, of whom two have died.

“The memorandum details a gross shortage of nurses, severe overcrowding, lack of equipment and poor working conditions.

“Instead of 22 nurses per shift, there were only 12 per shift.”

Bloom claimed that staff warned that “our premature babies are at risk of nosocomial infection due to overcrowding, shortage of staff, inconvenient location of wash basin, poor hand hygiene secondary to unavailability of stock”.

He explained that a nosocomial infection is acquired in a hospital setting, which happened with the antibiotic-resistant Klebsiella infection that claimed the lives of the two babies.

“According to staff, there were more deaths in babies in ward 2 this weekend, but it is unclear whether this was due to Klebsiella.

“They are also concerned that the hospital is mixing newborns with three- to nine-month-old babies, which increases the risk of cross-infection.

“My assessment is that hospital CEO Nomonde Mqhayi-Mbambo has failed to run this hospital effectively and has ignored the warnings of workers about infection risks.

“There needs to be a thorough investigation of the baby deaths and accountability from those who were responsible.”