Patient starved and denied medicine as punishment – Gauteng hospitals’ failures exposed

2026-03-23 - 13:10

Health Ombud Professor Taole Mokoena on Monday delivered a scathing briefing exposing systemic failures at two Gauteng hospitals. Staff at Dr George Mukhari Academic Hospital withheld medication and food from a psychiatric patient as punishment, falsified her medical records to hide it, and failed to reach her in time when she burned to death in a locked seclusion room. At Netcare Femina Hospital, a newborn died after the incorrect administration of adrenaline. Minister of Health Dr Aaron Motsoaledi said both institutions violated medicine’s most foundational principle, and one tried to cover it up. Hospitals ignored ‘first do no harm’ principle When healthcare workers qualify in South Africa, they are taught a principle that predates the Hippocratic oath: primum non nocere, first, do no harm. “When you interfere, the first thing you must put into mind is that I must not do harm to this particular patient. That’s the principle which is taught around the whole world in every medical school and every nursing college. But in this case, it means that principle was thrown out of the window,” said Motsoaledi. He was speaking about two institutions, one public, one private, that the ombud found had caused harm to patients in their care. At Dr George Mukhari Academic Hospital, psychiatric patient Ms L. Mohlamme, 35, was punished by staff who withheld her medication and denied her food while she was held in seclusion. She later died in a fire in that seclusion room. ALSO READ: Health dept promises to do better after woman hangs herself at George Mukhari Hospital Meanwhile, at Netcare Femina Hospital, baby Moatlegi Masoka died after adrenaline was administered intravenously instead of by nebulisation. Records falsified to hide punishment What makes the incident at George Mukhari Hospital worse is that staff falsified the medical records, claiming the medicine had been administered. “Prescribed medicines were deliberately withheld as a form of punishment. However, the medical records were falsified to indicate that the treatment was administered,” Mokoena told the briefing. The same punitive logic extended to food. Mohlamme was denied meals while held in seclusion, not because of any clinical reason, but as punishment. Motsoaledi was direct about what this represents. “Withholding food from somebody has nothing to do with infrastructure. It’s got nothing to do with a lack of training. It’s just outright inhumane,” he said. “Punishing somebody by withholding medicine is also a cardinal sin. What problem are you resolving by withholding medicine from somebody who came there to receive medicine?” The investigation further found that Mohlamme’s admission was legally invalid. It was revealed that her disclosed history of alleged sexual assault was never reported to police as required, mechanical restraints were applied beyond policy limits, and when another patient raised fire safety concerns, nursing staff dismissed them. Patient with lighter, locked doors and no one to help Mohlamme was placed in a seclusion room far from the nurses’ station with inadequate monitoring. Mokoena revealed that she had not been thoroughly searched. “The patient had a cigarette lighter on her person, which she most probably used to start the fire,” said Mokoena. When the fire broke out, emergency exits were locked, with the keys misplaced or hidden. Non-fire-resistant mattresses allowed the blaze to spread rapidly. “