Alleged suicide of a young pregnant mother could have been prevented: HAITU

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The unfortunate alleged suicide of a young pregnant mother-to-be could have been prevented, these are the sentiments of the Health and Allied Workers Indaba Trade Union (HAITU).

Refilwe Thamae, a 25-year-old woman, allegedly committed suicide by hanging herself inside a bathroom at Kopanong Hospital in Vereeniging.

According to the Gauteng Department of Health, Refilwe who was over seven months pregnant, was admitted to the hospital last week Friday.

“She was nursed in a side ward due to her condition being triggered by crying babies. On Saturday morning, she was missing from her bed. Her body was discovered in the bathroom after she had allegedly hanged herself with her head scarf,” the department said. 

Refilwe’s mother, Kedibone, reportedly told Sedibeng Ster that her daughter was suffering from a mental illness and was displaying abnormal behaviour.

Her mother had Refilwe admitted and it was recommended that she be sedated and restrained because she was high risk. 

Lerato Mthunzi, HAITU General Secretary says they are deeply saddened by the loss of such a young person and under very tragic circumstances.

“It is our view that this death could have been prevented if the hospital had placed her in a ward that caters for mental health conditions. The very fact that Refilwe had to be restrained, and was diagnosed as ‘high risk’ meant that she was not a just a danger to herself, but also to other patients as well.

“There is no justification for Kopanong not to have facilities to cater for mentally ill patients. She should have been placed in a psychiatric ward, which caters specifically for these types of conditions, not an ordinary ward.

“Kopanong is a provincial hospital and the largest hospital in that region. It should be able to cater to mentally ill patients, but it lacks capacity,” she lamented.

Mthunzi stated that like many hospitals in the province, Kopanong is short staffed and does not have facilities to house mental health patients.

She continued; “This death could have been prevented but unfortunately, the lack of resources resulted in the loss of life of a young woman and her unborn baby. 

“We must ask ourselves, how much longer can we continue to operate as a country, when the government refuses to take active steps to improve the quality of healthcare.

“How many people must die unnecessarily in our hospitals before the state will act decisively, by spending money to improve our healthcare facilities, so that we can protect the lives of the community,” she asked.

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Mthunzi insists that hospitals are supposed to be places where people go for healing, not where they go to die.

“Our members have to perform miracles in conditions where they are drastically short staffed, and where there are little or no adequate facilities, and resources for them to do their jobs properly.

“It means that we do not learn lessons if such deaths are still happening. The Life Health Esidimeni(LHE) scandal, where 144 mentally ill patients died because of neglect, should have forced the department to do better.

“The conditions for treating mentally ill patients are still far from adequate. In townships there are no facilities for patients, and most people cannot afford the services of privately owned facilities.

“The only place for them to be treated, is at the local hospital. It is very likely that what happened at LHE, will happen again if the state continues on this disastrous path,” she concluded.