Healthcare at hospital a horrific experience
Patients fear that healthcare at the Pietersburg Provincial Hospital is deteriorating due to a lack of interest and management by the department of health.
POLOKWANE – Patients fear that healthcare at the Pietersburg Provincial Hospital is deteriorating due to a lack of interest and management by the department of health.
According to some of the patients there was important equipment at the hospital that had not been working for more than a month and the department was seemingly not in a hurry to replace or repair the broken machinery.
“I am a cancer patient who receives my radiation therapy at the hospital and the radiation machine has not been working for weeks now.
“There are quite a few of us who get our therapy at the hospital and since the machine has been non-operational, we have been without radiation therapy. Instead of replacing or repairing the broken machines, the department is referring us to other hospitals outside the province.
“We are battling with our illnesses and fighting for survival. The department is gambling with our lives because we are behind with our therapy and now we must wait for an appointment from these hospitals because they do not have openings for us,” the patient explained.
A patient who had received dialysis three times a week for the past seven years at the provincial hospital said his stomach started to swell up recently and doctors said he needed to go for a CT scan, but there was no opening for him and he had to wait six months for an appointment to have the scan.
“The doctors found that I had water in my stomach and they drained it, but there was blood in the water and we stopped the draining until the CT scan showed what was wrong.
“I waited six months for the scan and when I called to confirm my appointment for next week, they said the machine was broken and they did not know when the machine would be operating again. This is so unfair because I am in a lot of pain and I do not know what is wrong with me. The doctor said he cannot give me any medication until it is clear what is wrong with me. Meanwhile I must suffer,” the patient said.
The patient added that he knew of other patients who received dialysis at the hospital and had the same problem.
Patients who were referred from Rethabile Clinic to the provincial hospital said it was a nightmare to get an appointment to see a doctor or specialist at the hospital.
“I have problems with my prostate gland and the doctor at the clinic did some blood work and referred me to the hospital’s oncology ward. I only got an appoint eight months after my visit to the clinic. When I eventually saw the doctor at the hospital, he diagnosed me on the blood results that were eight months old. I wish I had money to go to a private hospital because I am in pain and according to the doctor, there is nothing wrong with me.
“He only said I must come back in five months for more tests to be done,” the patient said.
There were also complaints of there being no hot water at the hospital and patients having to bath in cold water.
“The patients also complained that the linen on the hospital beds was dirty and that the personnel said the reason was because there was no hot water to wash the linen properly.
First-time patients at the hospital were also not happy that they were being issued used files. “The admin clerks said there were no stationery or files at the hospital and they had to reuse old files. We also wait very long in queues at the hospital because the printers at the hospital are not working. Patients’ information must be handwritten by the clerks,” a patient said.
By the time of going to print, department spokesperson, Macks Lesufi, had not given comment on the matter.
Pietersburg Provincial Hospital makes people sicker – patient’s wife
Language barrier at hospital in Polokwane
