Patients out in the cold

“Must a patient die first before the department of health improves service delivery at the Pietersburg Provincial Hospital?” asked residents.

July 16, 2015

Cheryllee Hannam 2 minutes read

POLOKWANE – “Must a patient die first before the department of health improves service delivery at the Pietersburg Provincial Hospital?” asked residents.
This after the hospital was recently without warm water and patients had to bath in cold water.
Mothers in the maternity ward, who spoke to Review on condition of anonymity out of fear of victimisation, said the babies were not bathed as there was no hot water and that the mothers who had given birth bathed in cold water or bathed at home if they were discharged on the same day. Patients from other wards complained about the linen being dirty and that the hospital personnel explained that the reason the linen was not completely clean was due to there being no hot water to wash it properly, they also advised patients to bring their own pillows.
Health department spokesperson, Macks Lesufi, denied that there was no hot water at the hospital.
“The hospital has hot water for patients in all our wards. Our water heating system is for the entire facility. Newborn babies are not bathed at all, instead sanitised wipes are used until they have reached a specified period or days,” Lesufi said.
Another concern for patients was the casualty ward at the hospital.
Patients said they had to wait for hours before receiving any help as there was only one doctor in the ward per shift.
A woman who took her father to the casualty ward on Monday, said: “My father’s face and feet were swollen and we took him to the casualty ward.
“My father has prostate cancer, cardiac problems and suffers from high blood pressure, so we did not want to take any chances. We arrived at the hospital at 15:00, but we only got to see a doctor almost 12 hours after our arrival”.
The woman explained that when they arrived at the hospital, they had to open a file for her father and thereafter, his blood pressure was taken and he was sent for X-rays and blood tests.
“We were done with all the tests by 17:00 and my father waited in a cubicle to see the doctor for his test results. By 22:00, we still did not see the doctor and the casualty ward was busy. There was one doctor on duty to serve all the patients. Only at 01:00 did we get to see the doctor. This is unacceptable,” the woman said.
She apparently reported the poor service delivery to management, but they only apologised, but never answered her when she asked how they would improve the situation.
Lesufi confirmed that there is only one doctor working at casualty and that it is due to a shortage of doctors in the province.
“Shortage of doctors is not just a problem in Limpopo, but a national problem and that is why the department sends 110 students to Cuba annually to further their studies. There are 21 students from Limpopo who have graduated and will start working at the hospital and clinics in the next two weeks.
“We acknowledge there is a problem with turn-around time due to the shortage of doctors, but we hope that with the new doctors added it will help,” Lesufi said.
He added that there was also a problem of aging specialists and the department encouraged young doctors to specialise so that there was not a problem with specialists.