This after the elderly woman died at Pholosong Hospital after being operated on three times in two months.
Sarah Rapodile says her grandmother went to the hospital on January 14 complaining about pains in her navel.
“Doctors operated on her and a week later she was still bleeding,” says Sarah.
“We asked the doctors about this and they said it will take longer to heal because she is older.
“The wound developed an abscess and she was always in pain.
“She was forced to take painkillers to survive the agony,” she says.
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Sarah says they made enquiries with her doctor and hospital management and the doctor allegedly told them the first doctors who operated on Gogo Josephine did a botched job.
“My grandmother was then taken back to theatre, where she was operated on again.
“She came back with a bigger wound which, two days later, was not healing and her drip was stitched to her body,” she says.
Sarah says they requested she be transferred to another hospital but this was refused.
“She was then operated on a third time and died a few days later.”
Josephine’s sister, Jacoma Malatjie, says they are demanding answers from the department.
“My sister walked into that hospital strong and came out dead.
“We are demanding answers from the hospital.”
• Also read: Locals raise concerns about Pholosong Hospital
Department of Health spokesperson Patricia Mokoena says Josephine underwent an operation on February 21 and was examined on February 27.
“All the necessary procedures were performed on the patient but we cannot divulge any detail of these to the media due to doctor/patient confidentiality.”
Mokoena says the department encourages healthcare users to report their complaints to the relevant facility managers.
“Their concerns will be taken seriously and thoroughly investigated.
“Healthcare users are also encouraged to lodge complaints with our 24-hour call centre, on 0860 011 000,” she says.
