KAMAJIKA – A patient suffering from TB, claims to have been neglected and ill-treated at Bongani Hospital.
According to a close family member, the health workers at the TB hospital, showed her no compassion since she was admitted last week Thursday.
Struggling to speak on her sick bed, the frail patient revealed to Mpumalanga News that on the day of her arrival, she was bathed with cold water by one of the nurses.
“That was the only time I was given a bath and since then I have had to wait for my relatives to arrive to assist me,” she stated.
Other patients confirmed there was no hot water and they feared that this might slow down their healing process since TB sufferers should not be exposed to cold conditions.
She also stated that during meal times, the nurses just left her food on the table and vanished. She said she had not been able to get out of bed or feed herself, but when the nurses returned, they just removed the food and gave her medication on an empty stomach.
“I became worse here than I felt at home and I suspect the medication I take without eating might be the cause of my weak condition,” she added.
Her relative, who wished to remain anonymous, confirmed the allegations saying that once when she visited she found her soiled, lying on blood-stained linen.
“I never wanted to interfere, I thought it was just a delay of some sort. However, having to go there repeatedly and find my relative in the same condition really took me by surprise.”
Sibiya added she had to wait for her siblings to help her get to the bathroom.
The relative shared her fears with this newspaper. “I believe a hospital must be a clean environment – how can one heal in a dirty place? I wonder why the staff members of Bongani Hospital are not performing their duties,” the relative said.
Mpumalanga News toured the hospital and confirmed that while the facility was in a good condition, the toilets and bed linen were filthy.
The health department’s Mr Chris Nobela, had this to say on the allegations, “We have conducted an investigation into the allegation of bad treatment of patients at Bongani TB Hospital and the finding was that the allegation is not true as all staff strive to provide patients with excellent service.
“The department is currently identifying all infrastructure challenges in all the hospitals in the province in order to improve health-service delivery with immediately effect.”
