Go home… for 10 days – at your own risk.
This was the message on Tuesday afternoon to Johan Roets, the 71-year-old pensioner, who had been waiting since December 3 to have an operation on his left leg after he had broken his femur.
Lowvelder reported last week on the plight of Roets, who needs to have his leg operated on and set in a splint.
The operation was postponed for the seventh time last Thursday. This despite an undertaking given to Lowvelder by the Mpumalanga Department of Health that the operation was indeed scheduled for that day.
The paper reported how Roets was given excuses such as broken theatre instruments and a theatre that was “too hot” due to a broken air conditioner.
While waiting for the much-needed operation, Roets said he felt intimidated by nursing staff. This he believed was due to the pressure Lowvelder had put on the hospital and the Department of Health for an explanation as to why the theatres were unusable.
ALSO READ: Rob postpones pensioner’s op for sixth time
Two of his family members, one a retired employee of the department and the other a current employee, were apparently called in by a senior manager who allegedly wanted them to stop the paper from publishing information.
When this was brought to the attention of Dumisani Malamule, the spokesperson for the department, he undertook to investigate the allegations and give feedback.
This has not been done yet.
After being told on Tuesday that Roets will be discharged, he and his brother, Thinus, refused. “How can any hospital instruct a patient to be discharged by them, and then he must do so at his own risk? It’s ridiculous!” Thinus said.
After he was informed about the hospital’s decision, Lowvelder requested an urgent meeting with Sasekane Manzini, the MEC for health. Malamule said the matter should rather be raised with the hospital CEO.
ALSO READ: Armed robbers gunned down by Tonga police
Lowvelder refused, and insisted on having a one-on-one meeting with the MEC to personally explain the hospital’s stance.
Barely an hour later, Johan phoned his brother to say the hospital had unexpectedly backtracked on their earlier decision.
He was informed that he was scheduled for an operation yesterday (Wednesday). This operation was postponed yet again.
Malamule refused to answer Lowvelder’s questions last week about the state of the theatres.
This week, however, Malamule admitted that the air conditioners were indeed out of order. “New spares can’t be bought over the counter and had to be sourced from overseas,” he said.
ALSO READ: 15 armed men rob Pakistani nationals in Hazyview
This publication established from a reliable source that the cost to repair the air conditioners will be R1.5m. The department apparently refused to have the system repaired.
After last week’s article, yet another patient, a 75-year-old pensioner, complained about a similar situation. She has been lying in Rob Ferreira since December 12, also with a broken right femur.
Her operation was also postponed numerous times and she was allegedly given the same excuses of broken air cons.
As far as can be established, there are at least five patients in the hospital who have been waiting for orthopaedic operations since December.
Do you have more information about the story?
Please send us an email to editorial@lowvelder.co.za.
For free breaking and community news, visit Lowvelder’s website: Lowvelder
For more news and interesting articles, like Lowvelder on Facebook, follow us on Twitter or Instagram
