Central SA
Free State hospital denies negligence following death of triplets─── 12:39 Fri, 27 Jan 2023
The Bongani Hospital in Welkom in the Free State has denied claims that one of the incubators in which a baby died at the facility last week was dysfunctional.
A Free State family is demanding answers from the provincial Health Department after their triplets died.
The parents of the triplets allege that a doctor at the hospital told the mother that the incubator for the lastborn was not working properly.
Head of Clinical Services, Dr Reggie Mokatsane, says the hospital’s internal investigation has not shown any malpractice or negligence.
Mokatsane says the hospital took all necessary steps to ensure that the triplets were given intensive care.
“I will say also, this was not a case of negligence or malpractice. It was a case of unavoidable death on the basis of a pre-term labour. You have three babies who are born very small, who require intensive care, whom the outcome can go either way despite the effort that we put in as a medical team [and] as a hospital. The outcome was unfortunate. This was unfortunate.”
