Rumours have surfaced that a rat was seen running around inside the Netcare Krugersdorp Hospital recently.

On Saturday, 12 November, a female patient allegedly shrieked and shouted as a rat allegedly ran over her while she was sleeping. The staff members allegedly tried to calm her down, and allegedly informed management about the incident immediately.

It is believed that the patient told another patient in the smoking area of the hospital that she had been bitten by the rat.

“Management was shocked when a patient notified ward staff last Saturday that a rat had run over her while she was sleeping, but she never indicated that she had in fact been bitten by a rat,” said Ronel van der Watt, the hospital’s nursing manager.

The management of the hospital stated that they immediately moved all patients out of the ward, even though no one saw the rat after the alleged incident.

“We also summoned the pest control service provider, who performed a thorough search of the vicinity, including the service ducts. They also could not find a rat,” Van der Watt said.

The hospital apologised sincerely for the patients’ unpleasant experience.

“We would like to assure the public and our patients that we are uncompromising on hygiene. Our pest control company will be called in to perform additional risk assessments, especially as we have had a lot of rain recently.

This will be done over and above the rigorous routine pest control measures already in place.

“We have also sought the company’s expert guidance on additional measures against rodents to ensure the hospital is doing everything possible to prevent the recurrence of such an incident.

“We believe that the information given to the public was provided by a third party – in other words, it’s based on hearsay.”

The hospital’s management also expressed their concern with the matter, saying that while they are not suggesting that the patient in question is lying, they have no reason to believe only one person’s account. “We didn’t receive any reports from the patient that she had been bitten, and there was no one else who yelled.”

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