An investigation was launched to find out what went wrong after the death of a 4-year-old girl who went to the Botshabelo District Hospital to have a tooth extracted.

The girl, accompanied by her mother, died on July 9 in what is reportedly the first such incident after children’s tooth extractions have been done at the hospital for almost four years.

Free State Department of Health spokesperson Mondli Mvambi said children’s tooth extractions at the hospital have benefitted more than 1 000 patients and parents.

The service has not been shut down temporarily for the investigation to be completed.

“We are subjecting this matter to a thorough adverse events investigation as it is a very unusual occurrence. Our highly trained professional staff were in charge of this procedure and have done many procedures successfully on the same day and in previous times resulting in happy children and satisfied parents,” said Free State MEC of Health Monyatso Viceroy Mahlatsi.

Mvambi said they have been in contact with the family and explained to them that they will try to get to the bottom of what went wrong.

“The Botshabelo District Hospital is one of the highest-performing health facilities in the Free State. This single incident has devastated the clinical community but must never be allowed to negatively dent the image of the hospital that will still need to continue meeting the needs of many people that are dependent on it,” he said.

Mahlatsi promised that they would ensure the investigation was done quickly and that they would use the information from it to prevent future incidents.