Patients are at their wits’ end over ill-treatment by nurses

MKHUHLU – Isn’t it frustrating when people complain about something for years and nothing is ever done to fix the problem? The unending moaning about inadequate service at public hospitals has seen many patients losing hope in the province’s health-care system.

For the past few weeks, Mpumalanga News has been inundated with calls from patients at Matikwane Hospital who were complaining over the same thing – wicked treatment by the staff. One particular caller, Mr Vusi Sibuyi, was furious. “I was involved in a car accident last Saturday around midnight and my friends rushed me to hospital. Upon arrival I was sent to reception to open a file.”

He further said that when he told the nurses that he was in pain and too numb to walk on his own, one of them yelled at him saying that she was not going to assist a man who was out drinking and ended up involved in an accident.

“I dragged myself to the reception and when I got there the clerk told me that if I was going to die, I should not do it in front of her,” said Sibuyi, adding that he had never touched alcohol in his life.
He said he then called his parents, who later drove him to Sabie Hospital where he received the urgent treatment he needed.
This journalist visited the hospital last Friday and spoke to several patients who confirmed that nurses at the facility were not fit to be in the profession.

“They are titled nurses because they are expected to nurse people who are sick, but what we see here is worse than hell and we don’t have a choice but to endure the treatment,” said Ms Sophy Lubisi.

Asked if they make use of the complaints box provided, they claimed that it was pointless because the same nurses who they report about, are the ones who empty those boxes and throw the forms away.
During his State of the Province Address earlier this year, premier Mr David Mabuza acknowledged that some nurses were harsh on patients and warned against the trend.

However, the tendency is apparently worsening and frustrated patients are pleading with the health authorities to take the matter seriously and address it so that they can finally be treated with the respect they deserve.

Spokesperson for the department, Mr Dumisani Malamule responded by urging the public to make use of the suggestion boxes which he said are always checked by CEO boards of the hospitals.

“The MEC announced that bad treatment in public hospitals and clinics shall not be tolerated and already nurses who have been suspended because of it and the public must cooperate with us,” said Malamule.