A woman from South Hills is frustrated after Netcare Union Hospital in Alberton refuses to pay her a refund after her husband’s operation.
She said there is over R8 000 that the hospital refuses to pay her after R100 000 was paid for her husband’s heart operation.
On December 13 last year, her husband had pains in his upper back. She thought it was just minor pains and she took him to Netcare Union Hospital. The husband was taken to trauma unit where it was established that he had heart problems and needed surgery as soon as possible.
“I told the hospital that I don’t have medical aid and I was given an option to pay R100 136 or R143 052 in order for them to start the operation. I didn’t have that money and I had to run around asking family and friends for help.
“Remember it was a Sunday morning, so most people are at church and others on holiday. It was a mission, however, I managed to get the money from family and friends,” she explained.
She said the money was paid directly to the hospital. However, now for the refund to take place, the hospital requires affidavits from the families who made donations to confirm they provided the money, along with other documents.
“I mean when they immediately needed the R100 000, it was paid and they didn’t need all these documents and now they need them. These families do not want to give all these documents as they were helping my family who was in distress. I need the money to continue helping my husband who is a pensioner, blind and just underwent a second heart operation in two years. What is the hold-up now?” she asked.
She received notification of the pending refund on December 21 yet until now (February 3) no refund has been paid out. The South Hills family said they used to have medical aid and it is not the first time they use Netcare Union Hospital.
Esme Abrahams, general manager, Netcare Union Hospital responded
“Thank you for the opportunity to respond on your reader’s concerns, as we have been trying to refund the money since last year but are unable to proceed without the required documentation.
“In December last year, we engaged with her to explain exactly what is needed for the funds to be released.
However, so far these documents have not been forthcoming. We have since followed up with her on January 5 and on January 29 the process was explained to her once more.
“We have advised her that the refund can only be paid into the bank accounts that the payments to the hospital were made from. In this case, there were payments from three different accounts. You will understand that, and as part of our due diligence and compliance procedures, we cannot pay the refund into the complainant’s bank account, as the payments to the hospital did not originate from her account. The affidavits and identification documents are required to ensure refunds are only paid into the correct accounts.
“This protects all concerned and is part of our standard operating procedures and compliance requirements. We remain eager to assist her with her refund through the correct process, and we continue to reach out to her to resolve this for her as soon as possible.”
