A nursing union says no investigation is needed into why newborn babies were put into cardboard boxes at the Mahikeng Hospital’s neonatal unit in the North West.

Denosa in the province points that its a daily reality where healthcare workers are forced to improvise due to the shortage of equipment and resources.

It reveals that the Mahikeng Hospital has long been short of incubators and cribs. Denosa notes that on the day in question, there were more than 55 babies and only 25 incubators. It adds that only seven nurses were taking care of these babies.

Denosa has called on the North West Health MEC Madoda Sambatha to focus on those who were supposed to have procured the incubators and cribs instead of the nurses, as this is not their job. The union also took aim at the hospital management saying that it acting surprised at this incident is nothing but a mere argument of convenience and an attempt to throw hardworking healthcare workers under the bus.