Health MEC confirms ‘precautionary transfer’ of Mahikeng managers over babies in boxes debacle

North West health MEC Madoda Sambatha has confirmed the "precautionary transfer" of five managers at the Mahikeng Provincial Hospital in the wake of the cardboard boxes debacle.

Sambatha last week expressed his shock after images emerged on social media showing newborn babies in the hospital's neonatal section sleeping in cardboard boxes instead of incubators or crib beds.

The MEC said arrangements were being made to send additional cribs to the hospital, and that an investigation into the matter would be launched.

According to Sambatha, hospital management said a preliminary internal investigation revealed that the incident happened on Saturday, and management was not alerted.

He held a briefing at the hospital on Wednesday to explain the sequence of events and what action has since been taken.

His briefing followed meetings with management, which presented its preliminary investigation, as well as employees and unions.

"On Thursday, I received a public circulation of [the pictures]. On me circulating it back to management, I said I can't believe this and I said, I need an urgent investigation to probe whether indeed this happened in Mahikeng," he said.

"A team from the provincial department was sent here [Mahikeng], which constituted three components that I think were relevant to this matter. It was the nursing division, labour relations and quality assurance, [all] from the province."

Sambatha explained that the investigation was carried out on Friday, and when he arrived later that day, he was briefed by the hospital's management as well as the team of investigators.

What they found, he explained, confirmed that there were newborn babies placed in cardboard boxes.

"We were told that the hospital, on the day [May 20], had 47 incubators and cribs. Which means that with that 47, any baby that would've been delivered [beyond that number], would've been extra.

"Secondly, 56 babies by 11am on Saturday were delivered safely. So the mothers were safe, the babies were safe. So we must congratulate the doctors and nurses on that."

Sambatha went on to blame management for failing to control the influx of expecting mothers to the facility beyond its capacity, saying it was a function under their control.

He also blamed them for failing to report the shortage of incubators and cribs to the acting CEO on the day as well as failure to monitor the situation as it was unfolding.

Sambatha insisted that the provincial department was never alerted to the situation until images started making the rounds.

On the preliminary report, Sambatha said: "The five managers must give the department formal accountability. We will not disclose their names or ranks because as we speak now, provincial management is meeting with them to indicate what is expected from them.

"Because this was a preliminary investigation, it means we must now do a full investigation into the incident, but it is limited to the responsibilities of the five. These five will be informed by management on what we've decided to do," he said.

The MEC announced that the decision to do a cross transfer was taken, pending the finalisation of the investigation. He insisted that no one has been charged at this stage and that the two managers initially suspended had been reinstated.

The length of the probe would depend on investigators, he added.

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