Family endures 10 hours of hell at ‘coronavirus hospital’ in Joburg

A Johannesburg family who went to one of Gauteng’s flagship provincial hospitals to be tested for the coronavirus has been left traumatised and dejected after spending close to 10 hours at the hospital waiting to get tested.

Yulesh Latchman, from Victory Park, said he went to Charlotte Maxeke Hospital at 2pm on Friday afternoon to get his wife and daughter tested after they had been exposed to potentially positive people at his wife’s place of work and at his daughter’s school.

“My wife and daughter were both screened by Dr Swart, who was really great. She qualified both for further swab testing and had to, unfortunately, leave at 5pm,” said Latchman.

He said until  am on Saturday they were given the runaround by nurses, with very little help or care, which left the family questioning the healthcare system.

“We were laughed at, insulted and the negligence from the hospital staff, in general, was traumatising to say the least.

“My child is still very traumatised as there was also no access to functional toilets or food, and water dispensers were dry,” he said.

Latchman said he found the experience to be completely contrary to what the government had been preaching about the country’s readiness to deal with the coronavirus.

He said the staff was unhelpful and arrogant, with some nurses refusing to disclose their full names to be identified.

Instead, they were laughed at and told to wait for hours.

“The hospital superintendent was of no use whatsoever and furthermore no one was prepared to give their full names or had their names displayed on a name tag for us to identify,” said the father of a five-year-old daughter.

His wife Naadira said the emergency paediatric unit doctors and nurses were the most unhelpful.

She said during the eight hours they spent at the hospital, not a single person disinfected the area that was filled with coronavirus patients.

“The place was so dirty with used masks and used gloves lying open on the floor right where we were sitting. If you go there negative there is a high chance that you can walk out positive,” she said.

Democratic Alliance Gauteng shadow health MEC Jack Bloom said the treatment the Latchmans received was unacceptable and the hospital should be held accountable.

“I am very disturbed that there wasn’t an expert doctor to deal with this family when they arrived. The hospital should have been far better prepared,” said Bloom.

He said as one of the provincial hospitals that had been identified to treat the coronavirus patients, management at Charlotte Maxeke Hospital should account for the incident.

“I have contacted the CEO of the hospital to inform them about the incident because this is really worrying. How are they going to treat future cases if people are subjected to waiting for nearly 10 hours just to do a test,” asked Bloom.

Gauteng health spokesman Philani Mhlungu said if anyone received unsatisfactory service at any of the provincial hospitals, they should report the matter to the CEO or senior management of that particular hospital.

“Alternatively they can use the Mpilo app, which is the department’s patient engagement app, and our quality assurance people will pick it up and escalate it.”

For more news your way, download The Citizen’s app for iOS and Android.