Family claims R7 million from Department of Health
FORMER chief executive of RK Khan Hospital Dr Prakash Subban is expected to start work at St Aidan’s Hospital on August 1.
Subban was redeployed following a protracted investigation after RK Khan Hospital’s image was recently dented. A video of patient Abdool Sadick Ebrahim, 52, with maggots in his mouth went viral.
KZN Health MEC Nomagugu Simelane-Zulu said it was found that directives given to the hospital management to remedy the challenges were not acted upon.
Nqobile Mkhwanazi, the former chief executive of Queen Nandi Memorial Hospital in Empangeni, commenced her duties as the acting chief executive at RK Khan Hospital on July 15.
Meanwhile, a letter of demand has been issued to the Department of Health to pay R7 million in damages to Ebrahim’s family. Ebrahim had been a patient at the hospital from June 19. He was being treated for gangrene.
This week, attorney Theasan Pillay, from Theasan Pillay & Associates, confirmed they were acting on behalf of the Ebrahim family. In a letter addressed to Mkhwanazi, they claimed the maggots resulted from the deceased not being kept in a hygienic environment.
Ebrahim, they claimed, had suffered a severely debilitating stroke and was incapable of alerting any individual to the discomfort or pain he may have experienced.
They allege Ebrahim was not regularly attended to or examined, and was treated in an inhumane and disrespectful manner.
They described his care as being sub-standard and claimed they suffered undue emotional trauma, anxiety and distress and continued to suffer.
Of the R7m, R2 million is for Ebrahim’s wife and R5 million for his son. The department has been given 30 days to pay the amount.