Hospital under fire after psych patient’s escape and suicide attempt in Ermelo
He had attempted suicide in the bathroom with a towel that was given to him by the hospital staff.
ERMELO – Concerns over negligence at the Ermelo Provincial Hospital have surfaced after a high-risk psychiatric patient disappeared from the hospital, was found, readmitted and then attempted suicide inside one of the hospital’s bathrooms.
The 47-year-old man, Dirk*, whose mental health challenges – according to his family – are exacerbated by ongoing legal issues, was voluntarily admitted on March 8 due to suicidal ideation.
Hospital staff allegedly downplay suicidal risks during admission
Upon arriving at the hospital around 16:00 on March 8, the nurses reportedly laughed off claims about Dirk’s mental state and questioned whether he truly needed psychiatric care.
Despite being informed by his friend Meghan* that he was a high risk to himself and the public due to his suicidal ideation, they were initially apprehensive about admitting him.
After persistent urging, they agreed to place him in the pre-psychiatric ward.
Meghan was required to stay with him until his admission was finalised.
With her husband and child outside in the car waiting for her, she went to tell them that she would arrange with her mother to come and pick her up, so they did not have to sit and wait for her.
During this time, Dirk exhibited an emotional outburst. Meghan said nurses responded by administering Dormicum, a sedative, which is said to treat severe agitation in patients.
Dirk was then dressed in hospital pyjamas and his personal belongings were given to her, including his flat’s keys.
However, Meghan was concerned about an unlocked security gate at the pre-psychiatric ward and claimed there were no security guards keeping watch.
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She reiterated to the nurses that Dirk was high-risk and informed them about his suicidal tendencies.
Once Dirk had been admitted into the ward, Meghan left the hospital.
Security lapses and noise complaints ignored in pre-psychiatric ward
Dirk is said to have been aggravated when another patient played loud music next to him.
He initially sought help from a nurse, who instructed the patient to turn off the music. However, once the day staff’s shift ended, the patient resumed playing his music.
When Dirk complained to the staff of the night shift, he was allegedly told to “Suka”, meaning to go away.
Frustrated, Dirk decided to take a walk, hoping that the patient would turn the music off by the time he returned.
He repeated this a few times, but each time he came back, the music was still playing.
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The continued noise and lack of intervention reportedly triggered another emotional episode, which ultimately initiated his plan to escape from the hospital.
When his aunt Clara* who was out of town, returned to Ermelo the following day, she decided to check in on him on the evening of March 9 during visitation hours.
Upon her arrival at the hospital at 19:00, Dirk was missing.
Hospital staff had apparently not noticed his disappearance, and it was only when his aunt had raised concerns that they began searching for him.
“Despite staff repeatedly being told that Dirk was a high-risk patient, no immediate security measures were taken to monitor him,” Meghan told Highvelder.
She said the hospital contacted the police after realising he was gone.
Family and friend find Dirk during suicide attempt after hospital failed to notice disappearance
Meghan and Clara started looking for him, and also went to his flat where they discovered him attempting to take his own life.
According to them, it took a lot of persuasion before he agreed to return to the hospital the following day, March 10.
Back at the hospital, Meghan claimed the staff showed relief that Dirk was found. “To me, it seemed like it was purely because they did not have to explain how he got lost in the first place.”
Clara and Meghan then made specific requests to improve Dirk’s care, emphasising the need to place him in a single room to minimise stress triggers, particularly loud music.
“The doctor and matron assured us that security would closely monitor him and that measures would be in place to prevent another incident and they apologised to them.”
Second suicide attempt follows ignored warnings and traumatic incident with security guards
Despite these precautions being requested, another incident involving security personnel escalated Dirk’s distress.
On March 11, he witnessed five security guards allegedly physically assaulting another patient he had befriended in the pre-psychiatric ward.
When Dirk attempted to intervene and de-escalate the situation, the guards continued their actions, while nurses allegedly ignored his pleas to have them stopped.
Clara again arrived for visitation and noticed that Dirk had self-harmed, but it went unnoticed by the staff.
A doctor requested to speak with Clara, during which time Dirk went to take a bath.
Concerned by how long he was taking, Clara checked on him, knocking on the bathroom door.
However, she grew uneasy after a while and went to check on him again, but got no response.
She rushed and alerted hospital staff to open the door. Inside, they found him unconscious—he had attempted to hang himself using a hospital towel they had given him and he had also cut his wrist with a piece of glass he had picked up while being escorted by security outside for a smoke.
Medical staff managed to resuscitate Dirk using adrenaline injections and an artificial manual breathing unit-bag, before placing him on a drip.
This decision, according to Meghan, contradicted their earlier refusal to use an IV to calm him down and put him to sleep.
“They had previously stated it could be used by Dirk to harm himself,” his aunt said. Despite the severity of the incident, Clara claimed that no doctor checked on him after his suicide attempt and resuscitation and they have not been given any updates.
Meghan and Clara have since raised concerns about the hospital’s handling of the case.
“I went to check the bathroom and the towel was still hanging from the window so I told the staff to remove it, as it could easily be used by Dirk again or another patient for that matter,” Meghan said.
Clara stated that if she had not gone to visit Dirk that night, his attempt may have been successful.
Family demands investigation and accountability from hospital leadership
Meghan and Clara are calling for a formal investigation into hospital negligence, stricter security measures for psychiatric patients, improved psychiatric care protocols, and mandatory and immediate post-suicide attempt evaluations.
They are also demanding accountability from hospital leadership, including the hospital’s CEO, the professional nursing staff and matrons.
Highvelder has sent enquiries to Priscilla Sekhonyana at the Health Professions Councill of South Africa as well as Dumisane Malamule, spokesperson of the Mpumalanga Department of Health and Sibusiso Mabuza, the Department of Health’s communications manager in the Gert Sibande District and awaits their responses.
*The names of the individuals have been changed for privacy and legal reasons.
