Johannesburg - When Lucas Mogwarane, 70, received a phone call on June 15, he did not expect to hear that his younger mentally ill brother had died.
“Christopher was healthy!” he told The Star on Thursday.
“His passing came only two weeks after he was moved from Esidimeni.”
Christopher Mogwarane, 56, had been a patient at the Life Esidimeni healthcare facility in Germiston for just over a year, suffering from a breakdown, before he was transferred to Rebafenyi, an NGO near Midrand.
“At Esidimeni he would do chores and even help the nurses - he was doing well,” said Lucas, who was told by a caregiver at the NGO that his brother had died from natural causes. The caregiver said they suspected a stroke.
“They had found him that morning lying dead on the floor with his arms twisted.”
Christopher is one of the over 1 400 patients transferred to 122 NGOs as a result of the Gauteng Department of Health’s decision to cancel its long-standing contract with Life Esidimeni due to funding cuts.
He is also one of 36 patients who have died since the move for whom the causes of death are undisclosed.
A caregiver at Rebafenyi, who identified herself as Nonny, said Christopher was ill when he arrived at the facility, which his brother Lucas denies.
“He was well up until being moved. When I went to visit him a few days before he passed, he started crying as soon as he saw me,” said Lucas. “In that week-and-a-half he had lost weight and said he was lonely. I don’t think he was getting enough nutrition or his medication.”
Lucas said Christopher received good care while at Esidimeni, seeing doctors and nurses regularly, but that when he went to visit Rebafenyi, there were no nurses in sight.
On Tuesday, Gauteng Health MEC Qedani Mahlangu, who has come under fire for the way in which the move was conducted, said the department had not been given the patients’ clinical files before they were transferred.
Without this information, it is difficult for Lucas to prove his brother was well when he was transferred.
“It is impossible for me to get answers. I just want to know what happened to my brother,” he said.
According to Professor Chris Lund from the Alan J Flisher Centre for Public Mental Health: “The deaths of so many patients need to be accounted for and any sign of negligence by any of the NGOs or the Gauteng Department of Health needs to be addressed urgently.”
He called on both the Gauteng and national health departments to take these deaths seriously and take immediate action to confirm the proper care of the remaining transferred patients.
On Wednesday, it was revealed that the country’s first health ombudsman, Professor Malegapuru Makgoba, would launch an investigation into the allegations, at the request of Health Minister Aaron Motsoaledi.
The provincial Health Department will have to answer questions about why patients were transferred without clinical files detailing their medical histories and whether this played a role in the 36 deaths.
Lucas told The Star that when he visited his brother at Rebafenyi, a staff member told him they were not ready to care for the patients arriving from Esidimeni.
“This caregiver said they don’t have enough staff for night time, which is when my brother died, but now they say he was already ill. I'd like the truth because my brother was well, and I think if he was still at Esidimeni he'd be alive today,” he said.
* Life Esidimeni said in a statement: “Our protocols and procedures were followed and included an assessment of each patient to determine the type of care required. This information was shared with the GoHD (Gauteng Department of Health) for it to identify and confirm suitable placement for each patient.
“The process of discharging and transferring patients covered their medication, mobility aids or devices, personal belongings and relevant patient clinical information. The discharge documentation and items were given to GDoH officials.”
Life Esidimeni supported Motsoaledi’s request that the Health Ombudsman investigate the deaths. “We will co-operate fully,” the group said.
Health-e News and The Star