Westbury Clinic saga: DA recommends mediation between Health Dept, Mirriam Singh’s family
Mirriam Singh went to the Westbury Clinic to deliver her baby last week when she suddenly died.
The community of Westbury gathered outside the Westbury Primary Healthcare Clinic on 31 December 2024 in protest of the death of Miriam Singh, who had gone to the clinic on Sunday to give birth. Picture: Jabulile Mbatha/Eyewitness News
JOHANNESBURG - The Democratic Alliance (DA) is recommending mediation between the Department of Health and the Westbury family of a pregnant woman who died with her unborn child at the local clinic.
Mirriam Singh went to the Westbury Clinic to deliver her baby last week when she suddenly died.
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Her family suspects foul play, but a postmortem revealed that she had an underlying condition.
The DA recommends a mediator as the Department of Health and the affected family are at loggerheads.
The DA's Jack Bloom said the Department of Health cannot investigate itself as it has in the case of Singh, where clinic staff were cleared of negligence.
He said an independent mediator is advisable because a court process could take years.
“Mediation is a much better way to achieve a much better outcome in good time that hopefully all parties are satisfied with because that’s what the mediator is there to achieve - to ensure that there are proper facts and that the family are properly consulted, and all outstanding issues are answered satisfactorily, and there will also be a binding recommendation. So, it’s a much better option than the court process.”
Bloom said the family must approach the department and request the intervention of a mediator.