Political parties lash government for death of babies in hospital

Various political parties have taken a swipe at the government as it remains silent on the matter of the recent deaths of babies at Tembisa Hospital.

The deadly outbreak of CRE bacteria at the hospital has caused the death of 10 babies, while another seven babies are said to be in critical care.

The DA has put the blame for the deaths squarely on the shoulders of President Cyril Ramaphosa for failing to provide additional health-care workers at the hospital.

“President Ramaphosa visited the Tembisa Hospital in May 2018, but failed to provide extra staff and resources even though he saw for himself the gross understaffing and overcrowding that led to the recent deaths of babies at this hospital,” said the DA Gauteng shadow health MEC, Jack Bloom.

“I was reminded of this failed promise when the Gauteng Legislature Health Committee on which I serve paid an unannounced visit to the hospital last week on Friday.

“I was aghast to hear that 103 extra staff posts had been approved for the hospital a year ago, but there was no funding to add them to the staff establishment. Even worse, former Health MEC Gwen Ramokgopa had cut 75 posts three years ago as part of budget-cutting efforts,” said Bloom.

He continued, “At the Ward 5 neonatal ICU unit, staff told us that they had only 19 staff but needed 40 staff.

“At the Ward 4 neonatal ward, where most of the deaths occurred, there are 44 beds, but there were 61 babies when we visited and we were told that in December there were days when there were more than 100 babies.

“The deaths at this hospital from antibiotic-resistant klebsiella (bacteria) could have been avoided if President Ramaphosa had listened and acted effectively when he visited there nearly two years ago.

“Failed promises in the health sector will, unfortunately, lead to more avoidable deaths in hospitals,” said Bloom.

The EFF in the Ekurhuleni Region has also placed the blame on the health department, arguing that they have had “fruitless” engagements with the hospital regarding issues such as overcrowding and shortage of staff.

“The department must be held to account for the senseless negligence that has led to the outbreak and deaths,” said Nkululeko Dunga, the EFF’s regional chairperson.

“As it stands, the hospital has a higher mortality rate in infant, child and maternity. It is listed number seven on the list of death in Gauteng hospitals.

“We have over the months as the EFF held fruitless discussions with the hospital and its stakeholders. We refer to these engagements as ‘fruitless’ because the conditions of both workers and the patients have not changed. The hospital remains short-staffed. There is a shortage of beds, equipment and medical stock, lack of infection and prevention control oversight and no appropriate isolation facilities for infectious neonates,” said Dunga.