Three families have accused Rob Ferreira Hospital of mistreatment of some of their relatives who had been admitted.
The first complainant is Yolanda Geldenhuys, whose father, Jakobus Schutte (75), was admitted to the hospital on January 4.
Geldenhuys says she is concerned that the hospital officials told her that her father could not be operated on because the theatre was not functional.
“They said this was because of high temperatures due to the air conditioners not working.”
She claims a doctor told her it might take many weeks for her father to receive surgery because, even should the theatre become operational, other patients were lining in the queue, too.
Geldenhuys says the hospital is too filthy and the emergency room had broken windowpanes.
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She said many patients with broken limbs were only given pain killers, but were kept in the dark about their operation dates.
“What is giving us some hope, though, is that the personnel are doing the best with what they have,” she said.
Felani Mtungwa (76) from Matsulu’s family also had something to complain about. Her sister, Moko Nthali, says she found used syringes left unattended on Mtungwa’s bed. She says the patient had not been bathed for some time and her adult diaper had not been changed.
Nthali said she had to buy some diapers herself, since the hospital did not have any.
“They still failed to change them even when I bought them myself, and I had to do their job. A young doctor came and picked up the needles, and profusely apologised for the negligence,” said Nthali.
She said there was a considerable amount of bloodstains on the floor, and she had to wipe them up herself.
Meanwhile, another woman whose father had been admitted to Rob on November 20 has accused the hospital of giving the family false hope.
“It is unaccepted to be told lies by hospital officials. They said my dad had been booked at the hospital in Gauteng for November 29. When the date arrived, he was not transferred, and we had to insist on seeing the booking, only to discover it was all a myth,” said the woman, who asked not be identified out of fear that her father might be compromised.
The provincial health department’s spokesperson, Chris Nobela, dismissed the allegations that the theatres were non-operational and insisted that the air conditioners were indeed working and the temperatures were within normal limits.
“The orthopaedic theatre operates every day, and we conduct orthopaedic marathons from time to time to clear the backlog. The last was in December, in preparation for the festive season. We have a high number of patients admitted during the festive season, but we are operating on a daily basis,” he said.
Nobela said Schutte’s operation date had not been fixed as he had other medical conditions that needed further examining.
“He needs to be stabilised first. He is not fit for immediate surgery. If he is taken to theatre now, he might die on the table,” he said.
He confirmed that some windowpanes were damaged, and explained that an intoxicated patient had broken them.
He said the public works department would repair them soon.
As for the alleged blood spills on the floor, Nobela confirmed their presence, but said they were cleaned up from time to time.
And as far as the family who kept their relative’s identity hidden is concerned, Nobela told the paper naming him in its media inquiry to the department was necessary. “Details of the patient are needed so that we can refer to the patient’s file.”