PICS: Nightmare at Mamelodi Hospital as gauze allegedly left inside patient’s abdomen

The notorious Mamelodi Hospital in Tshwane is seemingly at it again, this time with a mother claiming she went through hell after gauze strips were allegedly left inside her after a Caesarean section delivery.

Precious Ndwandwe this week showed The Citizen pictures and detailed how the incision scar that had been swollen and infected “ruptured” and a piece of gauze popped out, two weeks after delivering her baby girl at the public hospital.

“I pulled it out… more of this whitish and fluffy material that I could not identify came out. A friend who took me to hospital, a trained health care worker, identified the material as a gauze,” she said.

Nightmare

Speaking to The Citizen from her Mamelodi East home, the mother of three said her nightmare started when she was admitted to the facility on 3 August for labour.

She delivered her baby at midnight and was discharged three days later, with an instruction to return four days later to remove the stitches.

According to Ndwandwe, 26, she had complications with her incision scar from day one, saying she was constantly in pain, with the scar getting infected. She also could not feel her bladder filling up.

“I relayed all of this to the doctor when I went back to remove the stitches. The doctor removed the stitches and said I should come back if this did not subside,” she said.

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Ndwandwe said her infection and swelling became worse and a day later the swollen part ruptured and the gauze popped out.

She was rushed back to the hospital and showed attending nurses what had come out of her scar but the nurses insisted this was impossible.

Ndwandwe said she stood her ground and told the nurses that the friend who was with her could attest to this.

“I was then advised not to tell the doctor about this and I agreed because I was in pain. I, however, told the doctor exactly what had happened. I then asked to be put on sonar to check if there was more left inside me,” she said.

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The mother said the doctor said she would have to open a file and be admitted for this to happen but she did not want to be admitted at the hospital as she had been ill-treated.

She has since been sitting at home, with an infected incision scar that she is treating with an ice-cube to help soothe the pain and swelling.

What the hospital says

The regional hospital, infamous for negligence horrors, has denied that gauze could have been left inside the patient and disputed her version of events.

The hospital confirmed Ndwandwe was admitted for a Caesarean delivery on 3 August 2022 and was discharged on 5 August 2022.

But spokesperson Aobakwe Selebogo suggested that Ndwandwe had herself to blame for the complications with the incision wound.

Selebogo explained that prior to being discharged, Ndwandwe, as standard operating procedure, was given counselling on proper wound care management by the hospital nursing staff.

According to the hospital, Ndwandwe was also advised to return to the hospital for the removal of her stiches after seven days but she never returned.

“[Ndwandwe] returned 14 days later with a septic wound and she was re-admitted. Investigations were done and the wound was cleaned and secondary closure of the wound was done using nylon stitches,” Selebogo said.

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Ndwandwe, Selebogo said, was discharged 13 days later and wound care management was given again.

“… she was advised to return to the hospital or visit a local clinic to remove the stiches, but again she did not return within the stipulated time. She only returned two months and 13 days later with another septic wound and the nylon stitches (sic) still intact,” Selebogo said.

The treating doctor requested that the patient be readmitted, but she refused and absconded.

“No gauze or foreign object was left inside, only nylon stitches which she was supposed to have removed on the date given to her. To ensure proper wound management, patients must use warm water, coarse salt with clean cotton wool, no face towel, towel or any other cloth must be used. Mobilisation is also highly encouraged,” Selebogo said.

Septic wounds are caused by poor hygiene, intentional personal neglect, poor immunity, lack of exercise and using improper wound dressings, Selebogo said.

Selebogo advised patients to strictly follow the instruction and advice given by doctors and nurses upon being discharged, adding that these instructions are critical to avoiding complications.

‘Hospital of Death’

Mamelodi hospital is no stranger to negligence scandals, having made headlines in 2019 after a video of an elderly patient, Martha Marais, who has since died, tied to a bench went viral.

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In 2018, a mother, Nompumelolo Sibiya, claimed she was ill-treated and lost her twins, delivered prematurely at the hospital in 2016, after nurses refused to place them in incubators because it would be a waste of time.

Last year, Devon Knoetze, who was admitted to the facility after sustaining injuries on both his legs, discharged himself after alleging serious neglect and mistreatment from staff.

In July, Gauteng Health MEC Nomathemba Mokgethi revealed that negligence at Gauteng hospitals led to 1 957 deaths last year due to unintentional harm to patients.

These deaths were caused by Severe Adverse Events (SAEs), which means healthcare professionals either committed or omitted to act on a patient’s needs.

At least 198 of these deaths were at the Mamelodi Hospital, which locals have chillingly nicknamed Hospital of Death.