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- Denosa alleged the Mahikeng hospital only had 25 incubators for 55 babies in the neonatal ICU last week.
- The North West health department confirmed that 18 incubators had since been sent to the hospital.
- The department placed the nursing manager under precautionary suspension.
The Mahikeng provincial hospital has received 18 incubators after it came to light that newborn babies were recently placed in cardboard boxes.
This was confirmed on Monday by North West spokesperson Tebogo Lekgethwane.
It came after a Facebook post showed babies wrapped in purple hospital blankets, with nasogastric tubes, in brown boxes.
Last Friday, the North West health department announced it was investigating why the babies had been placed in cardboard boxes in the hospital's neonatal section.
The Democratic Nursing Organisation of South Africa's (Denosa) provincial secretary, Reuben Molete, said the matter didn't need any investigation because it was a daily reality faced by healthcare workers in hospitals and clinics, due to the shortage of equipment and resources.
READ | Mahikeng Provincial Hospital being probed after placing newborn babies in cardboard boxes
Molete said: "As a matter of context, the neonatal intensive care unit has been short of 20 incubators and cribs for an extended period. The unit has 25 incubators, but had more than 55 babies on the day in question, who were only looked after by only seven nurses."
He said the matter had been in the procuring process for such a long time.
He said:
He said due to underfunding in healthcare facilities, it had become extremely dangerous for healthcare workers to do their work without any risk of either litigation or charges of misconduct, due to a shortage of staff, equipment and resources.
"That is why many are fleeing the country for better opportunities overseas, where conditions are far better than in their country's facilities," Molete said.
READ | Mahikeng Provincial Hospital's nursing manager suspended after newborns placed in cardboard boxes
The provincial health department announced that it had placed the nursing manager of the hospital's neonatal section under precautionary suspension after it was confirmed that the babies were placed in boxes.
According to the department, the manager had failed to report that the section had to place newborn babies in the boxes due to a lack of resources at the hospital.
