Patients claim poor service at Mapulaneng Hospital
Last year, Mapulaneng Hospital was under investigation by the South African Human Rights Commission for alleged water shortages.
The patients of Mapulaneng Hospital are expected to bring their own cutlery, blankets and clothes when they are admitted.
So said a number of patients who claimed they were forced to eat with their bare hands.
They claimed that they are forced to come up with ways of adding sugar to their tea and stirring it without teaspoons, and said they are not provided with blankets or clothes to wear, because the hospital has a shortage of water to wash them.
They claimed newborn babies’ clothes or diapers are not changed, and mothers are not given sanitary pads.
Virginia Mokone said she was admitted to the hospital to deliver her child. Upon arrival, she had no extra clothes with her, as the contractions had started when she was away from home.
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“I gave birth the same day, and I was told that they did not have enough blankets or clothes for me to change. My family was not around, and I had to use my jacket to cover my baby during the two days I spent in hospital. I also asked for sanitary towels after giving birth, but I was told the hospital had none. I had to get it from other patients,” she said.
inyiko Khosa said the treatment she experienced in the hospital was different from what she had imagined. She was due for labour and said this was her first time giving birth. She claimed that the nurses in the labour ward kept on yelling at her, and when she gave birth, she had to wait for her family for seven hours to bring her baby’s clothes and her sanitary pads.
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“The nurses told me that they did not have clothes and nappies for people like me, because I looked like I could afford them. When my family arrived at the hospital, they had to wait for hours before they were allowed entry. As for the food, we were offered soft porridge and rice without a spoon, and we were expected to use our hands to put sugar on it,” she claimed.
The spokesperson for the provincial Department of Health, Dumisane Malamule, dismissed these allegations.
“The wards are issued with blankets according to the number of patients admitted. If there is a need for more blankets, they are provided. In the absence of running water from the municipality, the hospital was using water from JoJo tanks. The hospital has a borehole, and the municipality always assists with water tankers in case of a water shortage. So, the hospital will not use the excuse of a water shortage not to provide blankets,” he said.
