THE PROVINCIAL Department of Health said it views reports of the maltreatment of an elderly man at Wentworth Hospital seriously and finds them concerning.
This follows damning allegations by an aggrieved family about the lack of service delivery at the hospital for their ailing relative.
The family alleged that 71-year-old Anthony Santana was not given the urgency nor the medical attention he needed from the hospital.
The spokesperson for the KZN Department of Health, Ntokozo Maphisa, said although he is prohibited from publicly discussing confidential information pertaining to the clinical management of patients and related details, investigations were underway.
“This investigation extends to, inter alia, circumstances surrounding the admission, investigations and management of the patient. As of Monday morning, 8 March, the senior hospital management were engaged in a meeting to deal with this particular matter,” he said.
Santana’s wife, Mary, said the department had not been in contact with her at the time the SUN contacted her on Monday morning.
She, however, said her husband would be sent to King Edward Hospital for an endoscopy.
“The hospital has only acknowledged our complaint so far. This is now five weeks down the line. I wonder how many other patients go through what we are,” she said.
“They only put him on a drip about two weeks ago because he was so dehydrated. He has developed gastroenteritis because the medication they’re giving does not agree with him. After being initially told that there were no nearby dates, he will now be sent to King Edward on Tuesday, 9 March,” she added.
The family’s woes began on Monday, 8 February, when the frail Santana was rushed to Wentworth Hospital for severe dehydration after he had not been able to eat or drink anything for two weeks.
However, according to the family, the ailing man was only seen four hours later. X-rays taken showed that he had a severe lung infection and cracked vertebra. He was sent home with just painkillers and told to return a week later.
“By Monday, 15 February, he had already lost 30kg, which was more than half his body weight. My uncle and aunt waited 14 hours at the hospital before he was admitted.”
“This is 14 hours without food or drink. Although blood tests were done, no results or a treatment plan was discussed with the family,” said Santana’s niece, Morgan Jordaan, who added that her uncle was in excruciating pain.
Read the first article here: Family demands answers over ill-treatment at Wentworth Hospital
Maphisa said that management intended on further engaging with the family. He said the hospital’s CEO will undertake to once again contact them after their internal meeting.
“They will set up an appointment with the patient for a re-examination, which will determine a way forward. The department encourages any individual with a grievance not to leave the institution without contacting the office of the public relations officer, matron in charge, or the CEO.”
“To ensure public accountability and recourse, all hospitals are under instruction from the Health MEC to make the contact details of hospital CEOs and PROs prominently displayed and visible to the public,” he added.
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