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Ms Namadzavho Makatu, who says she was not treated well at Donald Fraser Hospital.

I will sue the hospital!

 

Despite persistent calls by Limpopo health MEC Dr Phophi Ramathuba for efficient service to reduce the alarming lawsuits against the province' health facilities, patients seem to continue to get bad service.

Day in and day out, complaints keep pouring in of patients not happy about services offered at the public health facilities. These complaints have devoured much of the budget earmarked for efficient health service. The department is already facing more than R4 billion in negligence lawsuits. Even the incidents of alleged negligence have skyrocketed from 179 to more than 839.

In a very recent case, a 39-year-old patient, Ms Namadzavho Kutama of Gondeni La Mabilu, visited Donald Fraser Hospital for her usual blood tests. Unlike her previous visits, the woman came back with a bleeding and swollen hand.

According to her, she had visited the hospital on 28 May and had blood taken for samples, but that day things did no go like other days. She said she left for home and on arrival at home found that the hand was weak.

"Unable to bear the pain, I phoned for an ambulance, but unfortunately I was told there was no ambulance. I had to walk to the Gondeni Clinic, where I was told they did not work at night. I had to walk back home without being helped," she said. She added that she went to the clinic the following morning, where they told her go to the hospital, where she was seen by a doctor.

Makatu further indicated that while at the hospital, she went to the CEO and explained her plight. She said what further worsened her condition was that she had been admitted on a Friday and had stayed there until Monday without being seen by a doctor. She was admitted at the hospital for a week and was discharged.

"I am not happy with the treatment I got from Donald Fraser Hospital at all. I have been using this hospital for nearly 10 years now, but I have never experienced this in all these years. It is clear the nurse who took the blood samples did not do it the right way. Something went wrong here, and it is just that the authorities do not want to tell as to what happened.”

She added that to illustrate that something was wrong, “even some of the pages in my file are now missing, showing that there is something hidden here”.

She said that after failing to get help from the CEO of the hospital, she tried contacting the MEC, “but she snubbed me. I sent her pictures showing the extent of the injuries, but she soon blocked me from her WhatsApp, without even responding to my complaint. I am so fed up and I am left with no other option but to take the hospital to task. I am suing them for this mistake”.

Makatu's hand is still swollen and bandaged almost two weeks after the botched blood tests.

Meanwhile, Limpopo heath spokesperson Mr Neil Shikwambana said the department was still making an enquiry at the hospital and promised to come back with comment. At the time of our going to press, however, we were still waiting for reaction from the department.

The bandaged and swollen hand that Makatu is nursing two weeks after doing a blood test at Donald Fraser Hospital. 

 

Date:17 June 2019

By: Elmon Tshikhudo

Elmon Tshikhudo started off as a photographer. He developed an interest in writing and started submitting articles to local as well as national publications. He became part of the Limpopo Mirror family in 2005 and was a permanent part of the news team until 2019.

Read: 1818

 

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