Once a newspaper runs a story, the floodgates open and conditions at the Standerton Hospital deserve a second look.
The Standerton Advertiser published the details of two separate incidents in its 17 February edition about a woman giving birth in January and an elderly woman who broke her hip on the way to the bathroom in hospital.
The Department of Health said they were unaware of any formal complaints about the hospital, but undertook to investigate the allegations.
According to the department, a complaint management system is in place for corrective steps to be taken.
A patient lodged a complaint with the department after a medical professional sent her medical information to her boyfriend.
According to her, the photos of the information on her file were sent on 23 June last year after the boyfriend discovered that she withheld certain information from him.
He allegedly asked the medical professional in question if she had access to the patients’ files and she replied in the positive.
The man asked her if she can get him information from one of the files and she allegedly agreed and said he should provide the name and surname of the patient in question.
After receiving the information, the man confronted his girlfriend.
The woman discovered what had happened and according to her, made numerous calls to the department, but their response was that they are working on it as it is a sensitive case.
She said what was done is unethical and requested the department to act.
The Standerton Advertiser was also advised about a patient diagnosed with a disorder in which the body’s immune system attacks part of the peripheral nervous system.
Read more about this and other issues at the hospital in the next edition of the Standerton Advertiser.
An e-mail was sent to Ms Nolwazi Ndhlovu, media liaison at the provincial Department of Health, on 1 March in an attempt to seek answers, but no response was received at the time of going to press.
