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Broken theatre at Bheki Mlangeni hospital a symptom of a larger problem

Patients are suffering due to an operating theatre that has been broken for three months at the Bheki Mlangeni Hospital in Soweto, but it’s a symptom of a far larger problem at this troubled hospital.

In October 2020 the hospital CEO Ruth Mabyana was put on precautionary suspension while facing a misconduct charge. This happened after the alleged rape of a psychiatric patient.

Previous controversies included the murder of a patient by a psychiatric patient, and a jobs-for-pay scandal.

But the investigation into these matters has dragged on and on.

According to a written reply by Gauteng Health MEC Nomathemba Mokgethi to my questions in the Gauteng Legislature, the Open Water company has completed its investigation of the hospital but “due to internal capacity restraints is still in the process of engaging the Office of the Premier to assist with the implementation of some of the recommendations as contained in the final investigation report.”

This is an inexcusable delay which prevents the resolution of the deep management problems at this hospital.

I suspect the delay is because it threatens entrenched interests.

Poor hospital management is evident with the latest crisis over a broken operating theatre.

How can it be that an operating theatre is not fixed speedily?

This puts lives at risk when surgery is needed urgently.

The DA will continue to push for the public release of the Open Water investigation, and speedy implementation of its recommendations to fix the hospital.

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DA welcomes suspension of Bheki Mlangeni Hospital CEO

The Democratic Alliance welcomes the precautionary suspension of Ruth Mabyana, the CEO of the Bheki Mlangeni Hospital in Soweto. According to the Gauteng Health Department, she faces a charge of misconduct.

I have long campaigned for her removal as she has been a total failure ever since she was appointed as the first CEO of this hospital when it opened 6 years ago.

She has proved incapable of securing the safety of patients and staff, with at least 12 violent attacks this year, including the murder of one patient and the alleged rape of another.

Other scandals during her term include jobs-for-pay and poor quality services that have given the hospital a bad name amongst Soweto residents.

We have seen before how she has bounced back from previous suspensions, so I hope that she is finally held to account for years of mismanagement and is removed permanently.

Soweto residents deserve a capable management for this hospital which serves a large number of patients and is meant to take the strain off the Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital.

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Another alleged rape at a Gauteng Hospital

The Gauteng Health Department needs to investigate another alleged rape of a psychiatric patient which took place at the Bheki Mlangeni Hospital on Saturday this past weekend.

This follows other recent alleged rapes at the Charlotte Maxeke Johannesburg Hospital, Tara Mental Hospital and the Stanza Bopape Clinic in Tshwane.

It appears that a male psychiatric patient at Bheki Mlangeni raped another male patient who was then taken to the Nthabiseng rape centre at the Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital.

There is a concern amongst staff that the hospital management will cover up this incident which follows the alleged murder by a psychiatric patient of another patient at the hospital in May this year.

This is the 11th violent incident at Bheki Mlangeni since the beginning of the year, yet the CEO Ruth Mabyana has been allowed to return to her post despite being initially put on precautionary suspension while investigation continues into the murder.

In my view, Mabyana is the worst hospital CEO in Gauteng and should have been removed long ago after scandals that include a string of violent assaults on patients and staff as well as a jobs-for-sale racket.

It is not forgivable that yet another assault has occurred on a patient at this hospital. Effective steps should have been taken to ensure that mental health patients are only admitted to a dedicated high security ward.

New management is needed urgently at the hospital to ensure that patients and staff are in a secure environment without threat of violence.

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Fire at Bheki Mlangeni Hospital cost R5 million

The fire at the administration block of the Bheki Mlangeni Hospital on 20 May last year caused damage of R5 018 308, but investigations have not identified any employee at fault.

This is revealed by Acting Health MEC Jacob Mamabolo in a written reply to my questions in the Gauteng Legislature.

According to Mamabolo an electrical fault was suspected as the cause of the fire and he is satisfied with the reports into this matter which were done by the City of Johannesburg Fire Safety Department, the Department of Infrastructure, and Occupational Hygiene & Environmental Services: Gijima Technology People.

But reports are still outstanding from SAPS and the Department of Labour, and some at the hospital blame the fire on an employee who allegedly left a heater on. This allegation does not appear to have been investigated properly.

It is disappointing that this hospital has been dogged by building faults despite being opened only six years ago at a cost of R730 million.

The hospital has also suffered from poor management, including a jobs-for-pay scandal, and has a poor reputation in the community.

I support the call for by the Independent Liberation and Allied Workers Union (ILAWU), which is demonstrating today at the hospital, for the removal of the CEO Ruth Mabyana and other top officials.

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150 staff infected by Covid-19 at Bheki Mlangeni hospital

150 staff have been infected at the Bheki Mlangeni Hospital in Soweto, which amounts to one in seven out of 1050 staff in total.

This is revealed by Acting Health MEC Jacob Mamabolo in an oral reply to my questions at a sitting today of the Gauteng Legislature.

The hospital CEO Ruth Mabyana is currently on precautionary suspension after a psychiatric patient allegedly murdered another patient in May this year.

This hospital has always been badly managed since it was opened with great expectations six years ago. There was a jobs-for-cash hiring scandal and persistent labour relations problems that placed it on the list of five worst hospitals in Gauteng.

Poor management is a major factor in the high number of staff infected with COVID-19 because of poor infection control and a lack of quality Personal Protective Equipment (PPE).

According to Mamabolo, there are ongoing investigations at that will decide the fate of the hospital CEO.

My view is that there needs to be a total change of top management at the hospital to rectify deep-seated problems that grievously hurt staff and patients.

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Four more violent incidents at Bheki Mlangeni Hospital since patient’s murder

Four more violent incidents by mental health patients at the Bheki Mlangeni Hospital have taken place since a patient was stabbed to death by a psychiatric patient last month on 8 May.

This is revealed by Gauteng Health MEC, Bandile Masuku in a written reply to my questions in the Gauteng Legislature.

According to Masuku, there have been ten violent incidents at the hospital since January this year:

  1. 09/01/2020; Patient assaulted by a mental patient.
  2. 18/01/2020: Patient damaged the property and assaulted an employee.
  3. 27/01/2020; Patient assaulted by a mental patient.
  4. 07/03/2020; Patient gained access through the fire hydrant into the ceiling to escape.
  5. 28/04/2020; Burglar door was disconnected by the patient and used to escape.
  6. 08/05/2020; Patient allegedly stabbed another patient to death.
  7. 09/05/2020; Patient assaulted by a mental patient.
  8. 12/05/2020; Patient assaulted by a mental patient.
  9. 15/05/2020; Patient gained access through the shower room into the ceiling to escape.
  10. 19/05/2020: Patient vandalised the male medical ward (broke windows and damaged certain equipment in the ward).

Masuku says that these incidents are caused by “the medical conditions of the patients. These patients are also managed in a non-secluded environment as there are no dedicated mental health wards.“

Furthermore “Preliminary investigations are underway in order to inform appropriate actions. The Chief Executive Officer is on precautionary transfer” and ”Mental health services are currently suspended to allow Infrastructural challenges to be dealt with by Department of Infrastructural Development (DID).”

I am highly disappointed that this hospital has not taken sufficient security steps to prevent violent incidents even after the murder of a patient.

The key problem is that mental health patients are kept in an ordinary ward rather than a dedicated high security ward which should have been built long ago.

I welcome the precautionary suspension of CEO Ruth Mabyana as she has failed dismally to manage the hospital for six years. She should be replaced with someone who can ensure that there is safety and quality care for all patients at this hospital.

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Patient stabbed to death at Bheki Mlangeni Hospital

I am horrified at the murder of an 86-year-old patient allegedly by a 17-year-old mentally ill patient at the Bheki Mlangeni Hospital last week on Friday.

The suspect apparently managed to get hold of a sharp object to stab the man multiple times and also injure another elderly patient.

I have warned previously about inadequate facilities and security at this hospital as there have been at least seven previous assaults by psychiatric patients.

Answers are needed as to why the hospital still does not have a properly staffed and dedicated psychiatric ward.

There needs to be a full investigation and the hospital management held accountable for this terrible incident.

Patients go to hospital to be healed, not killed.

It is yet another reason to replace the hospital CEO Ruth Mabyana as the hospital has been poorly managed, including a jobs for pay scandal, since she was appointed six years ago when the hospital opened.

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DA launches petition to remove failing management at Bheki Mlangeni Hospital

The Democratic Alliance in Gauteng has today launched a petition to remove the CEO and top management of the failing Bheki Mlangeni Hospital in Soweto.

This is because the Gauteng Health Department has failed to hold the top management of the Bheki Mlangeni Hospital in Soweto accountable despite a jobs-for-cash hiring scandal and the hospital being placed on the list of five worst hospitals in Gauteng.

There were high hopes when this hospital was opened six years ago – it was a new hospital with a new staff. It is crystal clear that poor management is to blame for the employment scandals and its poor reputation amongst the public.

Unfortunately, Gauteng Health MEC Masuku has indicated that he wishes to retain Hospital CEO Ruth Mabyana who shares the blame for what has gone wrong.

Under Mabyana, there have been 136 disciplinary actions against employees in the past three years, and 6 staff are currently facing disciplinary charges – 5 for irregular appointments and 1 for theft at the hospital.

The hospital has a poor reputation amongst Soweto residents who call it AVBOB as so many deaths happen there.

We are therefore calling for an entirely new top management that is untainted by past failures.

The petition can be signed here : https://petitions.da.org.za/p/saveourhospital

See below the text:

Petition to remove the CEO of Bheki Mlangeni Hospital

The Gauteng Health Department is failing to hold the top management of the Bheki Mlangeni Hospital in Soweto accountable despite a jobs-for-cash hiring scandal and the hospital being placed on the list of five worst hospitals in Gauteng.

Under CEO Ruth Mabyana, there have been 136 disciplinary actions against employees in the past three years, and 6 staff are currently facing disciplinary charges – 5 for irregular appointments and 1 for theft at the hospital.

This hospital needs an entirely new top management untainted by past failures.

Sign this petition to demand that Gauteng Health MEC Bandile Masuku remove the CEO of Bheki Mlangeni Hospital NOW in order to provide a proper health service to Soweto residents.

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Bheki Mlangeni Hospital overcrowded and ill equipped to handle risky births

I am concerned that the 33-bed Antenatal Ward at the troubled Bheki Mlangeni Hospital in Soweto is currently full, and 14 other expectant mothers, including high risk cases, have been put in other wards.

The risky cases include five patients who are past their expected delivery date who are now in the Labour Ward when they should have been transferred to a higher level hospital.

The problem is that Bheki Mlangeni is only a low-level District Hospital and does not have the highly trained midwives and 24-hour doctors in its maternity section to handle complicated births.

This hospital needs to be expanded and upgraded in order to provide a proper health service to Soweto residents.

It is very disappointing that the hospital was opened with high hopes six years ago with an entirely new staff, but has been plagued by poor management and a jobs-for-pay scandal.

Its troubles continue even though special intervention was promised when Gauteng Health MEC Bandile Masuku identified it as one of the ten worst hospitals in the province.

Urgent action is needed to ensure that pregnant women at high risk get decent treatment at this hospital or are speedily transferred to a better-equipped hospital.

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Why is management at Bheki Mlangeni Hospital not held accountable for failures?

The Gauteng Health Department is failing to hold the top management of the Bheki Mlangeni Hospital in Soweto accountable despite a jobs-for-cash hiring scandal and the hospital being placed on the list of five worst hospitals in Gauteng.

I have come to this conclusion following a written reply by Gauteng Health MEC Bandile Masuku to my questions in the Gauteng Legislature.

Masuku claims that “The hospital is performing well in terms of set national performance indicators. Classification of hospital as one of the worse performing hospitals was not only confined to management. Acknowledgement is made that there are community concerns, environmental factors, growing population of the catchment areas, diseases profile that is a moving targets, budgetary allocation and other resources to meet service demands.”

He concedes, however, that there have been 136 disciplinary actions against employees in the past three years, and 6 staff are currently facing disciplinary charges – 5 for irregular appointments and 1 for theft.

There were high hopes when this hospital was opened five years ago – it was a new hospital with a new staff. It is crystal clear that poor management is to blame for the employment scandals and its poor reputation amongst the public.

I am disappointed that MEC Masuku wishes to retain Hospital CEO Ruth Mabyana who shares the blame for what has gone wrong.

This hospital needs an entirely new top management untainted by past failures.