Another patient dies after Life Esidimeni transfer
Another patient who was transferred from the Life
Healthcare Esidimeni Centre has died, the Gauteng
Health Department has confirmed.
In September the Health Ombudsman launched an investigation into the deaths of 36 mental health patients who died after they were transferred from this health facility.
The transfers were done after the provincial health department cancelled its contract with Life Esidimeni to cut costs.
Acting head of the health department Richard Lebethe says the 49-year-old patient was transferred to a medical facility in Germiston without any documents and already in poor health.
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“She was transferred without any medical records, she was emaciated, frail and had bed sores,” he says.
Lebethe says the patient was taken to Mamelodi Hospital for further treatment.
“The doctors at Mamelodi Hospital referred her back to the centre in Germiston where doctors continued to care for her. This is where she died,” he says.
Lebethe says the circumstances around this patient’s death will also form part of the health ombudsman’s investigation.
Edited by Laila