Pretoria - The Steve Biko Academic Hospital in Pretoria said a male patient has died after he jumped from the window of its ward, on the sixth floor, and landed on the third floor.
Mogapi said: “We confirm the incident. Yes, the patient attempted suicide [by] jumping out of the ward on the sixth floor and landed on the third floor, and sustained serious injuries.”
She said the hospital would however require the patient, or his next of kin’s approval “in the form of written consent to release more information”.
Meanwhile, the DA has called for a thorough probe into the incident on Women’s Day.
DA Gauteng Health’s shadow minister Jack Bloom said it must also be ascertained if there are preventative measures against such incidents at the hospital.
“This is very tragic. We need a swift investigation to establish what happened and whether there were enough preventative measures,” Bloom said.
“Was this perhaps a psychiatric patient as there have been incidents of suicide by such patients at hospitals with inadequate security?”
In May, the Gauteng Department of Health confirmed that some patients had to be moved after a fire broke out at the Steve Biko Academic Hospital.
“The fire, which affected temporary structures at the facility, was successfully put out by the Steve Biko Academic Hospital team, using the fire extinguishers on site,” said the then Gauteng Health spokesperson Kwara Kekana.
“Thankfully, there were no patients or staff casualties. Eighteen patients and one corpse that were in separate temporary structures close to where the fire broke out had to be moved to other areas of the hospital as a safety precaution.”
IOL