Nurses get flack from DA

2005-07-07 23:28

Johannesburg - There are astonishing levels of incompetence and negligence among professional nursing staff in hospitals across the country, the Democratic Alliance (DA) said on Thursday.

The statement by DA spokesperson on health, Dianne Kohler Barnard, followed the release of a report on Thursday into the deaths of 21 babies after an outbreak of klebsiella pneumoniae at the Mahatma Gandhi hospital last month.

The report revealed several flaws with infection control methods, that klebsiella pneumoniae was found on the hands of 10% of staff and that the nursery was usually overcrowded, under-equipped and understaffed which worked against adherence to infection control.

"Completely inadequate training and supervision of nurses, in combination with a lack of motivation amongst nurses, have created the ideal circumstances in which infections can spread," said Barnard.

"It is ironic that this hospital is relatively well resourced and staffed, and should not be experiencing problems caused by the failure to follow routine procedures."

Barnard questioned Health Minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang's decision to set up a "rapid response team" to deal with outbreaks like klebsiella pneumoniae.

"A similar outbreak killed six babies at Bloemfontein's Pelonomi hospital last year.

"Why did the minister wait for 21 more babies to die before she galvanised her department to set up this rapid response team?"

She said it was clear that the incident at Mahatma Gandhi hospital was not an isolated incident.

"The problems at Mahatma Gandhi are problems that are endemic to the whole health system, and it is only a matter of time before it happens again somewhere else," said Barnard.

- SAPA