Please don’t go to the emergency department at Helen Joseph unless you are deathly ill, asks paramedics.
Delays in getting medical care could be reduced if the ER was only dealing with patients that needed emergency care.
Problems facing Helen Joseph Hospital’s emergency department could be lessened if patients did not arrive for treatment that could have been attended to by a non-emergency facility or local doctor.
The Covid-19 lockdown undoubtedly challenged the hospital, and so did the devastating fire at Charlotte Maxeke Johannesburg Academic Hospital. Perhaps the hit the hardest was the already stretched emergency department, as they absorbed patients that would normally be attended there.
Helen Joseph Hospital’s acting CEO Monwane Khopo said, “It is important to note that the emergency department is the entry point for most critically ill patients. We experience high patient loads from outside the hospital’s drainage area as the community still comes to Helen Joseph as the point of first contact and this results in longer waiting times.
“Charlotte Maxeke is not fully operational to the capacity it was prior to the fire and some of its patients continue to attend to services in Helen Joseph Hospital thereby increasing our numbers and pressures.”
An appeal made by paramedics who spoke to the Northcliff Melville Times was for patients to only go to the emergency department if they were in a ‘life-threatening situation and not just for a stomach ache’.
Khopo added, “This is why we encourage patients to only present to a tertiary healthcare facility on a referral basis and after seeking care at lower healthcare facilities within their respective drainage areas to minimise on these waiting times challenges.”
DA Gauteng Shadow Health MEC Jack Bloom said the situation had normalised somewhat since Charlotte Maxeke reopened but agreed, “There are still problems when patients wait too long in the emergency department as there are not always beds available. Care does seem to improve once a patient is in a ward, and obviously, depending on what is wrong with you.”
He also described the negative impact that power outages are having on the hospital, “The generators are not designed for long-term and can only supply power for the most essential needs with, for example, only emergency surgery being performed during these times.”
Locals share their experiences:
Derek Chapman (52) was taken to the ER by ambulance last month for renal failure. His sister, Linda Marx said waiting for him to be seen by a doctor was a nightmare. She described how Chapman’s wife ‘had to clean him herself while he lay on a gurney, as nurses would not help, as he had lost control of his body because he was so ill’, how the department was filthy, and the agonising wait of ‘hours upon hours’ for him to finally see a doctor which he did at 22:00 after lying on an ambulance gurney for two days.
His sister said his care had improved a little once he was admitted to the ward, however, he did unfortunately pass away at the hospital.
Surprise Mazibuko (37) described her experience in May of waiting in casualty to be admitted for severe pneumonia as a nightmare. She said, “The smoke from people smoking outside really affected my breathing, so too did the oxygen I was eventually given as it was too powerful and painful. I was so scared and traumatised. The nurses did not care.
“I thought I would die there so I went to a private hospital to be stabilised and returned to Helen Joseph, feeling a bit better to endure the many hours it would take for me to be admitted into a ward.”
Mazibuko said her time in the hospital’s Ward 24 ‘was wonderful with caring and attentive doctors and nurses’. “Even the staff who brought us tea cared and I felt like I was in a private hospital and am so grateful for the great treatment I received.”
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