Northdale Hospital staff accused of mistreating elderly patient

A Howick woman says she can’t get over how badly her mother was treated at Northdale Hospital.

It’s been over a month since the death of Mathynette Oliver (65) and the family is still distraught over the treatment she received at the hospital.

Monique Viljoen said her mother was admitted to Northdale Hospital early in January after her stomach and legs started swelling.

She said all the blood tests came back clear and they were told that all she needed was oxygen.

The doctor ordered for her to be given oxygen, but the nurses refused. My mom tried to get hold of the doctor and reported this and that’s only when she was given oxygen. After contacting the doctor, my mom said she was treated badly, probably because she complained to the doctor. The nurses even called her fat.
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She said according to other people who were in the same ward as her mother, a lot of people were ill-treated by the nurses who were supposed to care for them.

We managed to contact a woman who was in the same ward as my mother. She said nurses checked her sugar levels at around 11 pm, after which she fell asleep, but later died. We’ve tried to find out what exactly caused my mother’s death, but have only been told that it was due to natural causes. We want to know what natural causes [because] we are still trying to figure that out.
She said she was left distraught when she received a phone call from someone at the hospital informing her that her mother had died.

They just asked me if I knew that my mother was dead and that I needed to do something because her body was lying in the ward.
She said the way the news was delivered was shocking coming from a professional.

They were very insensitive. They [showed no care for] my feelings, the way they delivered the news.
She added that they tried to contact the hospital after burying her mother, but could not get through.

She said her mother was a very friendly person who avoided giving anyone trouble.

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Spokesperson for the KZN Department of Health, Ntokozo Maphisa, said the department was concerned by the allegations made and views them in a very serious light.

He added they would like to be given time to look into the matter so that it may be dealt with appropriately with the parties involved.

Without prejudice, the department wishes to convey its condolences to the bereaved family, on the passing away of their loved one. That said, the department does not discuss in the media details pertaining to the clinical management of patients, as these are confidential, and doing so would be against the law.