A stressful situation at Olivedale Clinic

A stressful situation was only made worse by stringent Covid-19 security measures for Olivedale siblings after seeking medical attention at Netcare Olivedale Clinic on 4 July.

Peter Duvenage said that he received a call from his sister during the early morning, complaining that she was in excruciating agony and said that she thought she was dying.

“She needed urgent medical attention, so I rushed to her house and drove her to the hospital. I drove like a maniac as she was telling me all the way that she was busy dying,” said Duvenage.

The siblings arrived at the hospital at breakneck speed into the parking lot. “I blew my car’s hooter and expected a flurry of activity to come to our aid. Nothing happened,” added Duvenage.

Two security guards appeared – one with an electronic clipboard and asked for his sister’s ID number. “By this time, my sister was writhing in pain, complaining loudly that she was going to die. The security guard kept insisting on receiving her ID number. As I was at my wits’ end, I told the man loudly that I will give him all the details once my sister has been attended to. He was persistent and told me that we will be allowed entry to the clinic only when he receives her ID number,” said Duvenage.

He said that he ran to the front door and shouted at the reception that he needed urgent assistance but the person on duty advised him the same.

Duvenage continued, “I rummaged through my sister’s small bag she had brought with and managed to provide the security guard with her ID number. Now the security guard wanted my ID number. I tried to remain calm. He proceeded to ask me all the relevant Covid-19 questions one by one while I was losing my nerve. My sister was then, finally, taken to the security guards’ office for a temperature check.”

Duvenage’s sister was eventually admitted and underwent an emergency hernia operation. “I would like to emphasise that this was a life-threatening condition. If you arrive at a private clinic, surely you would expect a competent person to come outside and assist you if it is an emergency,” said Duvenage.

General manager of Netcare Olivedale Clinic Linda Bhagaloo said that the hospital fully understands the anxiety and concern. “These are challenging times, however, and our staff members who attended to Mr Duvenhage’s sister at the time were still compelled to follow the processes for safe entry into the hospital as legally required by the Department of Health.

“Hospitals such as ours have to do everything possible to keep our patients, staff and visitors to the hospital safe at this time and the staff members concerned were doing their best to achieve this under difficult circumstances. We have been in contact with Mr Duvenhage. We appreciate his understanding now that we have been able to fully discuss the matter and are pleased that his sister is recovering.”

Duvenage confirmed that the hospital had contacted him and stated that he was glad that the situation would be looked into. “I am happy that the hospital made the effort to contact me. It is good to bring this to the attention of the community. At the end of the day, life carries on.”