Man sues hospital over ‘avoidable’ finger amputation

Amos Molepo, from Tsakane, Brakpan, had two of his fingers amputated due to staff “negligence” at a local hospital, he claims.

In January, Molepo visited the Pholosong Regional Hospital after sustaining an injury on his left arm.

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’69 days in hospital without help’

He claimed he had a small cut but got stitches without the wound being cleaned, which caused an infection which spread.

When his fingers got numb and swollen he went back to the facility where he was admitted for 69 days “without being attended to”.

Apart from the days he stayed in the facility, he said the time he spent waiting for assistance was approximately seven months.

“When I went there for the first time they just stitched me up, but within a few weeks, my fingers started to swell.

“The pain was unbearable and I decided to go back but they kept on postponing my appointments.

“Eventually I was admitted and nothing was done to check on why my hand was getting worse.

“I was delayed from March until April, so at the end of May the fingers were rotten and I was referred to a physiotherapist, who said had the injury been attended early, there would be no need to amputate them.”

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Amputation could have been avoided

Molepo believes the hospital negligence led him to the current situation. He said he tried in vain to convince them to attend to him but he was accused of “talking too much”.

Molepo, who worked as a carpenter offering a service to his community, said he was no longer able to work due to his paralysis.

His job was the only source of income as the old age grant was not enough.

Since he stays alone things are hard because he uses one hand. He claims after the incident he tried in vain to apply for a disability grant.

His lawyer, Mabu Marweshe from Marweshe Attorneys said: “We are gathering all necessary information so that we can continue with the litigation.”

Gauteng department of health spokesperson Motalatale Modiba had not responded to questions by the time of going to print.

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