You may as well die at home
Maggie Buys does not have medical aid, so her daughter took her to Witbank General Hospital, along with all the tests, scans, medical results, and reports, where she was allegedly left unadmitted.
In the wake of the uproar and subsequent probes into the state of public healthcare in Gauteng, after former broadcaster Tom London posted a video on social media regarding the disgusting state of the Helen Joseph Hospital, many residents of eMalahleni must have been thinking about all the horror stories that have come out about Witbank General Hospital over the years, and the alleged lack of action of the part of the Department of Health to rectify the situation.
A quick search on the internet or Facebook will bring up countless allegations from dozens of family members and patients who became victims of the failing institute that is Witbank General Hospital, and some are even more horrific than what was witnessed by London.
Unlike the dirt that clings to everything at the filthy, dilapidated health facility, nothing seems to stick when it comes to anyone being held accountable for the countless accusations of deaths, and maltreatment over the years, and the situation just seems to be getting worse by the day.
The question everyone keeps asking is, how many people need to die before something gets done about this ‘slaughterhouse’, as it has been dubbed by the residents of eMalahleni?
It is with great sadness that WITBANK NEWS once again has to report on alleged maltreatment and negligence that was faced by an elderly woman, who now as a result of alleged negligence, has potentially left her permanently damaged.
On Monday, August 26, Amelda Pieterse took her mom, Maggie Buys (75), her morning cup of coffee.
Pieterse , a registered nurse, noticed that her mother was not well as her speech was garbled, and she was confused.
Pieterse immediately suspected a transient ischemic attack (TIA) and took her mother to the GP, who insisted she be taken to hospital without delay, as he also suspected she was having a TIA.
TIAs most often occur hours or days before a stroke.
She then decided to take her to a private hospital to go and have testing done, where they paid the earth for tests and scans to be done that confirmed her mom was indeed having a TIA and needed urgent critical medical care before the big stroke hit.
Unfortunately, Buys does not have medical aid, so her daughter took her to Witbank General Hospital, along with all the tests, scans, medical results, and reports confirming she is headed for disaster and needs help without delay.
They arrived at Witbank General Hospital just after 11:00.
According to Pieterse, Buys was allegedly left sitting on a hard bench in the passage for 31 hours, and in all that time, was not given a bed and the appropriate medical treatment. Allegedly, she was only given three small pills to drink in all the time she was there.
When they arrived at the hospital, Buys was still able to speak and walk herself to the toilet.”But as a result of not receiving the necessary medical intervention, the big stroke eventually hit,” Pieterse said.
By 17:00 on Tuesday, August 27, Buys was allegedly completely paralysed on her right-hand side and no longer had the ability to speak.
According to Pieterse, all that Witbank General Hospital did then was to transfer her to Impungwe Hospital.
The doctors and nurses allegedly kept telling the family they could not provide the required treatment as they had no beds, yet allegedly patients who arrived after Maggie, and were not in a critical condition, were given priority over her.
“When I asked the doctor to please help my mother as she was getting worse, he told me I was talking to him as if he was a child. He roughly rubbed her chest and said she was fine and was improving. I told him she was clearly declining and needed help. All they kept doing was taking blood and re-doing all the tests that were already done before we even arrived at the hospital.
This was wasting precious time and I could see my mom going downhill in front of my eyes. She was left sitting on a cold, hard bench for more than a day, and then was simply moved to another hospital after the stroke had already ravaged her brain,” said Pieterse.
Buys is currently at Impungwe Hospital, where she is receiving treatment, but the damage is already done.
The Department of Health was contacted for comment, but no response had been received at the time of going to print.
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