Family to sue health for alleged negligence
Parents of a 32-year-old woman who died after spending 11 hours unattended in the casualty ward at Themba Hospital on May 6, 2014 is still struggling to find closure.
PHOLA TRUST – Parents of a 32-year-old woman who died after spending 11 hours unattended in the casualty ward at Themba Hospital on May 6, 2014 is still struggling to find closure.
Mpumalanga News learnt that the family was currently engaging with their legal team as they planned to sue the Department of Health for negligence.
The whole drama started after their late daughter, Ms Delisile Nkosi was brutally assaulted by her husband after which she went to Phola Nsikazi Clinic where she was told that she had sustained internal bleeding to the head and was rushed to Themba Hospital in KaBokweni for an X-ray.
According to the father of the deceased, Mr Moses Nkosi, when they arrived at the hospital, they waited hours to get an ambulance to transport his daughter to Rob Ferreira Hospital where she was supposed to be treated by specialists.
They didn’t make it in time and were forced to watch their daughter take her last breath.
“I still find it very hard to be at peace or find closure because I requested very nicely on that day to take my child with my own car since the ambulance was delayed, but they refused.
I believe that my child could have survived, but due to their negligence, I lost her,” he explained.
Nkosi further blamed the doctors who conducted the post-mortem whom he accused of negligence.
“The results stated that my child died due to epilepsy, while my child had been assaulted and nurses at the clinic said we must rush to hospital so that doctors could drain the blood before it went to her brain. The husband had used a hard object to hit her.
“We have tried several times to find answers, but our efforts have been in vain. Even the Hazyview Police Station also refused to give us permission to exhume the body to conduct another post-mortem,” added Ndlovu.
He said they stated it was already too late to exhume the body.
“We buried my child on a Sunday then on Tuesday we went to ask for permission after we had a meeting as a family regarding the results. When we arrived there they told us the body was in a decomposing state, but I found it strange as it was only two days after the burial.
“We suspect the husband must have bribed the police, therefore, we are taking this matter further. The suspect was never arrested, he is walking free as if nothing had happened,” Nkosi concluded.
