An investigation into the alleged rape of a 15-year-old girl at Stellenbosch Hospital has found chilling evidence of medical staff flouting the law and policies, dereliction of responsibility and a lack of security at a ward for mental patients.
In a damning 33-page report released this week, watchdog organisation Public Service Commission (PSC) called for “corrective action” to be taken against three doctors, Dr Garth Cornellissen, Dr Beverley Williams and the hospital head, Dr Natasha Blackenberg. The report also detailed its findings of the inquiry into the procedures, duty of care, safety measures and protocols for dealing with adolescent patients at Stellenbosch Hospital.
The probe, launched in October, followed reports of the alleged rape of the 15-year-old patient by a 19-year-old male patient at the hospital in September. The teen’s mother described the incident as “devastating which had left the family torn”.
Weekend Argus learnt that a copy of the report was also released to the provincial Department of Health, which did not respond to questions.
The commissioners said they found evidence that the hospital authorities and medical staff failed to report the alleged rape to the police.
The hospital also failed to administer a rape kit to the adolescent girl, identified as Patient K in the report, as required by the law.
The report said the girl’s parents were contacted only 48 hours after the incident and the manager medical services (MMS) was also informed 26 hours later.
“The fact that such a serious incident suffered the collapse of proper protocols being observed is alarming,” the commission found. At no stage did any hospital official report the matter to SAPS. It is inexplicable that the doctors involved in treating (or overseeing the "doctor) Patient K did not deem it fit to immediately report the matter to SAPS,” the panel found.
This was despite the doctors having discussed the process with each other on September 23 and 24, 2021.
The panel was also told that the urgency for reporting the matter to the SAPS “over the long weekend” was not immediate as there was no “imminent threat” to the patient’s safety.
“The MMS who was informed of the incident did not follow up on steps taken to report the matter to SAPS.
“Had there been proper follow-up the MMS could have ensured that the matter was reported to the SAPS,” the investigation found.
Patient K was allegedly raped by a 19-year-old in a shared toilet.
The investigation also found that:
• The incident was not characterised as rape by nursing staff, social workers and doctors but rather as “consensual sex”.
• The girl was given prophylaxis treatment without the consent of
the mother.
• A rape kit was not administered.
• Both male and female patients were kept in the same ward, but in different rooms.
• Adolescent the patients are kept in the same ward with adults.
• And the hospital is not designed to effectively allow for full and constant observation of patients from a vantage point of the nurses’ station.
According to information given to the commissioners, the alleged rape incident was discovered by another 15-year-old female patient when she entered the toilet.
She reported the incident to staff but was allegedly ignored.
“Scared that it would happen to her, she broke a window and ran away,” the report said.
A medical doctor and two nurses chased after her, leaving one nurse in charge of the ward.
The panel was told that disciplinary action was taken against two medical staff, a doctor and a community nurse, who were on duty at the time of the incident.
The commission noted that the disciplinary action was in the form of corrective counselling and appeared to have been hastily done and the “reasons for this were in question”.
The Sexual Offences Amendment Act stipulates that a person who knows that a sexual offence has been committed against a child or a person who is mentally disabled must report such immediately to a police official.
Failure to do so might result in a fine or imprisonment or both.
But the commission said it found no evidence to indicate that the hospital deliberately tried to cover up the incident.
“There is, however, a clear abdication of the responsibility to contact the parents.
“A reasonable person would conclude that given the seriousness of the incident and the pressing need to administer medication, that there was sufficient urgency to physically seek out the mother (who lives within 10km of the hospital) at her residence,” said the panel.
The panel visited two other hospitals that offered a 72-hour assessment, Victoria and Tygerberg hospitals, where they noted the services, layout and design complied with the policy guidelines.
Both hospitals had adequate security deployed in the mental health user observation units.
“This should be non-negotiable for all mental health users observation units and the department should ensure that this standard is not compromised,” said the commission.
The policy guideline on 72-hour assessments of involuntary patients require the provision of security at the main entrance to the ward, separate sections for male and female patients, and that adults must not be mixed with adolescents.
“The department failed to observe their own policy,” the commission found.
It recommended that appropriate action be taken against the three doctors, including the head for the failure to report the incident to SAPS.
It also asked the department to provide separate toilets for men and women and that a security gate be provided, manned by security and to separate the males and the female in different wards.
The public protector also confirmed that its own investigation into maladministration and improper conduct surrounding the incident was nearing completion.
The girl’s mother told the Weekend Argus that she wanted the matter to be dealt with in a manner that recognised her child’s rights and dignity
“After the incident she sometimes cries and shouts my name in her sleep. “When I ask what the matter is, she just brushes it off. She told a family friend that her virginity was taken away just like that.
“My daughter will never be the same again. Her siblings and I try to give her support and be strong for her sake. We have not even dealt with our own emotions after the incident.
“We are still heart-broken and we feel that the hospital failed to protect her. They need to take accountability for what happened and action must be taken against the medical staff,” said the mother.
She said after the incident she struggled to get her daughter back to school.
The girl was doing Grade 7 at a local school when she was admitted to the hospital in 2001.
Despite repeated attempts to get a response from the Department of Health and a promise that a response was available and would be sent, the officials failed to do so.