Negligence at Bernice Samuel Hospital costs a four-week old baby an arm
A mother of a four-week old baby girl reports that her daughter lost an arm at Bernice Samuel Hospital due to negligence. Baby Lwandle had been admitted for diarrhea at the hospital but ended up getting her hand amputated.
Mbali Sweleni (20) describes her experience as horrific when she saw a bandage with blood on the floor next to her child. This happened just a few hours after the child had been admitted at the hospital.
“She was fine when I left her. Late at night I went back to check on my child and breastfeed her. I was shocked t find bandages with blood next to the incubator. Lwandle had a deep wound on her right wrist and when I confronted the nurses about it, they they said my daughter had pulled out a drip.”
“Baby Lwandle was born on the 9th of March. I suspect they gave her a wrong drip and when they realised it they ripped it off and tried to cover up their carelessness. The nurses injured my child and bandaged the wound.”
“When I went there the next morning the wound had gone septic. It had changed to a greenish-blackish colour and was developing watery blisters around the injured wrist,” the mother reports.
Negligence at Bernice Samuel Hospital costs a four-week old baby an arm
What hurts Mbali Sweleni is that no one from the hospital has bothered to explain to her how her child got injured. On the other hand Health Department Director in Ekangala district Solomon Malatjie oversees the investigation and find out what really happened to the child.
The father of the child Thembinkosi Mndlovo cannot afford the medical bills to take his daughter to a private hospital. Fortunately Mpumalanga Premier offers support to the family and offers counselling to the young parents.
Angry community members in Delmas have embarked on march to the Bernice Samuel Hospital to try and demand answers from them. The community has over the years been condemning the treatment from the hospital staff and negligence towards patients.