The inaccessibility of the Emergency Medical Services (EMS) at the Prof ZK Matthews Hospital in Barkly West, has possibly resulted in a baby’s death, following a forced home birth. The Democratic Alliance (DA) in the Northern Cape has requested Health MEC, Maruping Lekwene, to institute an urgent investigation into the incident, which is apparently not the first of its kind.
On Thursday last week, a teenager had to help her 19 year old neighbour give birth at approximately 02:00 in the morning. Neighbours and family members, none of whom had their own transport, tried in vain to call for an ambulance.
The hospital’s telephone lines have apparently been out of order for the past three weeks, following an incident of cable theft. In effect, the facility’s landline apparently rings on the telephone pole outside the hospital.
The South African Police Service (SAPS) refused to come out, saying it was not their job to deliver babies. Eventually, a neighbour managed to call a nurse on her cellphone. The nurse alerted the ambulance staff but by the time they arrived, it was already too late for the baby.
The young mother was admitted to the hospital, as was her distraught brother, who is a matric learner who collapsed after the traumatic incident.
A similar home delivery, in which the baby survived, was reported just three months prior to this incident. The incident was apparently also due to delayed ambulance services.
Myself and the DA’s Head of the Idwala Constituency, Delmaine Christians, tried to visit the young lady and her brother in hospital, but we were turned away. Despite further attempts to meet with the hospital manager, Mr Motlhankana Koopman, we were told that he was not available. We have, however, learnt that shortly after the baby’s death, an emergency cellphone number was allocated to the ambulance service.
The DA is deeply disturbed by the incident. This is not the first time that Mr Koopman has avoided taking responsibility for serious issues within his hospital and shied away from speaking to members of parliament. We have previously also reported our concerns regarding Mr Koopman, with the health department.
The system has failed the affected family. MEC Lekwene must investigate both incidents. We need to know why the emergency line was not attended to sooner, why there were no contingency plans in place to ensure that EMS could still respond to emergencies, and even why SAPS was not informed about the out-of-order EMS line.
There must be accountability and a commitment from the Health Department to ensure that all newborns have access to lifesaving medical care.