The FF Plus will ask the Gauteng MEC for Health, Dr Bandile Masuku, to urgently launch a thorough investigation into the deaths of ten babies in the Tembisa Hospital on the East Rand. The babies passed away between 1 November and 31 December 2019 after they contracted antibiotic-resistant bacterial infections.
The investigation should not only focus on the deaths of the babies, but solutions must also be found to prevent further infections and more deaths.
Steps must immediately be taken against the managerial staff under whose supervision the needless loss of lives occurred.
According to a spokesperson of the Department of Health, 17 cases of antibiotic-resistant bacterial infections were reported in the Hospital, which resulted in the deaths of the ten babies.
The FF Plus is concerned about the situation in provincial hospitals maternity wards as these wards are often overcrowded with too many patients. That along with the shortage of staff, lack of proper hygiene in many hospitals, poor infrastructure and inadequate supervision contribute to the fact that patients’ lives are jeopardised and some even die – this is unacceptable.
Better hygiene is needed in wards and particularly in theatres. Medical staff’s negligence is one of the main contributing factors in the spread of life-threatening infections.
This year, the FF Plus plans to pay surprise visits to hospitals where the party will speak to nursing staff and patients so as to determine the true state of affairs at these hospitals.
The FF Plus expresses its deepest condolences to the parents who lost their babies.
Read the original article in Afrikaans by Amanda de Lange on FF Plus
South Africa Today – South Africa News
