Life Esidimeni Inquest: Gauteng Health Officials Failed to Make Arrangements to Move Patients to NGOs
- More shocking testimony into the events that transpired when mentally ill patients were moved to NGOs from Life Esidimeni was heard on Tuesday
- A nurse from the Life Esidimeni's Waverly Care Centre stated that on the day of transfer, they were told NGOs could not accept more patients
- She stated that the Waverly facility had to make arrangements for patients to be taken to another facility until capacity was made at NGOs
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JOHANNESBURG - The inquest into the horrifying deaths of 144 mental health patients from Life Esidemini hospital continued on Tuesday, 7 September. The inquest was set up to determine who was actually at fault for the lives lost.
In a virtual hearing, a former nurse at Life Esidimeni, Zanele Buthelezi, gave testimony about what actually transpired when patients were transferred from the psychiatric facility to ill-equipped NGOs, according to EWN.
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Buthelezi gave testimony about patients who were transferred from the Waverly CareCentre to an NGO called Buhlebenkosi.
She testified that on the day patients were meant to be taken to NGOs, the Gauteng Health Department officials let the facility know that the NGOs were at full capacity and could not accept any more patients, according to a report by News24.
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She also testified that transportation to move the patients from their facility to NGOs was not made available and that the Life Esidimeni facility had to make arrangements for patients who could no longer be kept there.
Upon coming to the realisation that patients were stranded, the Waverly centre contacted the Life Esidimeni head office and arrangements were made for 38 patients to be taken to Randfontein Care Centre. She says most of the patients who were transferred were of ill health.
A month later, the Buhlebenkosi NGO reports receiving 40 patients from Randfontein, including 10 from Life Esidimeni.
According to the NGO, the patients they received lacked any kind of identification, such as name tags, and they were forced to identify them using outdated photographs from their medical records.
Buthelezi contends that the facility gave Randfontein all relevant information, but she is unable to speak on what transpired between the time the patients were no longer in their care and their arrival at Buhlenkosi.
Life Esidimeni Inquest: Gauteng Health officials were warned against moving patients to NGOs
Briefly News previously reported that on Monday, the National Prosecuting Authority began an inquest into the Life Esidimeni tragedy in which 144 mentally ill patients died after a decision made by health officials in 2016.
Judge Mmonoa Teffo of the Pretoria High Court is presiding over the inquest, which is expected to end on Friday, according to the Daily Maverick.
Advocate Adila Hassim stated the purpose of the inquest was to find out what happened to the patients. Hassim further stated that the deaths of these patients was not due to natural causes but rather negligence as well as unlawful conduct by government officials.
Hassim is representing SECTION27, a public law centre, as well as the families who lost their loved ones in this tragedy.
Source: Briefly News
