Manager of Messina Hospital put on leave

The clinical manager of the Messina Hospital, who was forced out by nursing staff, might be soon be managing the affairs of the Louis Trichardt Memorial Hospital.

Three weeks ago, disgruntled staff members of the Messina Hospital had had enough and went on strike to have Dr Allick Dube thrown out. He had been the hospital’s clinical manager for the past three years. Hospital staff, patients and local health organisations claim that Dube has been ill-treating patients by allegedly refusing them adequate care and medicine.

According to a report that was compiled by Médecins Sans Frontièrs / Doctors Without Borders (MSF) and forwarded to the Health Professions Council of South Africa (HPCSA), Dube also refused to provide anti-retrovirals (ARVs) to rape victims. The report was filed against Dube as an official complaint about his conduct as a registered medial practitioner.

The Zoutpansberger / Limpopo Mirror managed to obtain a copy of this report.

In the report, an incident on 9 April this year is mentioned in which Dube allegedly denied treatment to a five-year-old girl who had been raped. This was despite the fact that he had recorded “evidence of rape” on the girl’s examination chart.

According to the report, foreign patients have been receiving the poorest treatment of all. Hospital staff echoed the concerns mentioned in MSF’s report. Dube, they claim, has been treating Zimbabwean rape victims and patients from the Thuthuzela Care Centre (TCC) as if they are a burden on the health-care system.

The TTC, which is on the same premises as the Messina Hospital, was established specifically to provide comprehensive medical treatment for victims of sexual and gender-based violence. MSF, which is a non-governmental humanitarian medical organisation, has been providing health care for migrants and refugees in and around Musina since 2007. In July 2011, MSF entered into an agreement with the TTC and provided them with a qualified forensic nurse, as well as a psychosocial counsellor.

This agreement worked well until September of last year, when complaints about Dube’s conduct towards victims at the centre started to stream in. Dube allegedly allocated himself as the only physician responsible for sexual assault survivors, despite the fact that he also had duties as the Messina Hospital's clinical manager.

Apart from the complaint filed by MSF, several other official complaints were also filed with the hospital’s chief executive officer, Mr Simon Netshivhambe. Nothing came of these complaints.

Nursing staff told the newspaper that there were at least 64 complaints from community members. Dube also fired several doctors without following the proper procedure. The staff claims that he chased away three Congolese and one Ugandan doctor because their “foreign training is not good enough.” A fifth doctor was allegedly fired because he performed an abortion on a teenage rape victim against the wishes of Dube.

After the strike, both Dube and Netshivhambe were placed on leave. Nursing staff demanded that Netshivhambe leave the hospital, with claims that he had appointed two managers for a year in acting positions that did not exist.

Last Wednesday (22nd), the newspaper has learned, a stakeholders meeting was held at the Messina Hospital. Even though the newspaper was denied access to the meeting, it was later revealed that two officials from the Limpopo Department of Health and Social Development (DoH) had attended the meeting. They were commissioned by the department to investigate the claims against Dube and Netshivhambe.

The DoH was approached for comment regarding this meeting, as well as the outcome of their investigation. Repeated follow-up calls were ignored. On Monday, the provincial spokesperson, Ms Sinenhlanhla Gumede, acknowledged receipt of the newspaper’s enquiry and said that it was receiving attention.

The DoH was also asked whether rumours that Dube might be transferred to the Louis Trichardt Memorial Hospital were true. Questions regarding the Messina Hospital’s current staffing crisis were also put to the DoH.

News - Date: 03 June 2013

Isabel Venter

Isabel joined the Zoutpansberger and Limpopo Mirror in 2009 as a reporter. She holds a BA Degree in Communication Sciences from the University of South Africa. Her beat is mainly crime and court reporting.

Email: [email protected]