Hospital under fire over baby’s snakebite death

THE Katutura State Hospital is to investigate the circumstances surrounding the death of a three-day-old baby girl at the hospital on Sunday night.

She reportedly died from a snakebite after failing to be treated in time. There has been a public outcry over the baby’s death, with nursing staff and doctors on duty that night under fire for allegedly not treating young Maria Munetumba’s case as an emergency.Her family apparently had to wait for hours along with other incoming patients, with the newborn baby allegedly eventually provided with “lacklustre care”.Members of the public are up in arms over the family’s ordeal, which was first reported in a television news bulletin earlier this week.The Senior Medical Superintendent of the Katutura Hospital, Dr Rheinhardt Gariseb, yesterday told The Namibian that the incident had prompted an investigation including all staff members involved.”Everyone involved has to write a report on what happened, from the nurses to the doctors,” Gariseb said.’NOT MY FAULT’ Gariseb further said that a post-mortem would be conducted this week to determine whether the alleged delayed treatment contributed to the child’s death.He rejected claims that he failed to take responsibility for the incident earlier when contacted for comment by the media.According to him, as he was not directly involved with patients, he had not been aware of the incident when he was contacted.The child’s father, Gideon Munetumba, told The Namibian yesterday that baby Maria’s mother had taken her to hospital at about 17h00.She had apparently been bitten in the face by a snake at her mother’s home in Windhoek’s informal settlement of Havana.Munetumba said he had not been with his family at the time.Later the child’s mother called him on his cellphone to ask him to bring along the child’s medical certificate, which they had left at home.By the time he arrived at the hospital, he said, his daughter had still not been attended to, and staff on duty appeared to be more concerned with the forms that the family was supposed to complete.Doctors only showed urgency when they saw blood coming from his daughter’s mouth and nose, he said.At around 22h00, he said, one of the doctors, who had by then taken the child into the theatre, came out to tell them that his baby daughter had died.There has been a public outcry over the baby’s death, with nursing staff and doctors on duty that night under fire for allegedly not treating young Maria Munetumba’s case as an emergency.Her family apparently had to wait for hours along with other incoming patients, with the newborn baby allegedly eventually provided with “lacklustre care”.Members of the public are up in arms over the family’s ordeal, which was first reported in a television news bulletin earlier this week.The Senior Medical Superintendent of the Katutura Hospital, Dr Rheinhardt Gariseb, yesterday told The Namibian that the incident had prompted an investigation including all staff members involved.”Everyone involved has to write a report on what happened, from the nurses to the doctors,” Gariseb said.’NOT MY FAULT’ Gariseb further said that a post-mortem would be conducted this week to determine whether the alleged delayed treatment contributed to the child’s death.He rejected claims that he failed to take responsibility for the incident earlier when contacted for comment by the media.According to him, as he was not directly involved with patients, he had not been aware of the incident when he was contacted.The child’s father, Gideon Munetumba, told The Namibian yesterday that baby Maria’s mother had taken her to hospital at about 17h00.She had apparently been bitten in the face by a snake at her mother’s home in Windhoek’s informal settlement of Havana.Munetumba said he had not been with his family at the time.Later the child’s mother called him on his cellphone to ask him to bring along the child’s medical certificate, which they had left at home.By the time he arrived at the hospital, he said, his daughter had still not been attended to, and staff on duty appeared to be more concerned with the forms that the family was supposed to complete.Doctors only showed urgency when they saw blood coming from his daughter’s mouth and nose, he said.At around 22h00, he said, one of the doctors, who had by then taken the child into the theatre, came out to tell them that his baby daughter had died.

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