Private healthcare is not a shining example either,  writes Thabile Mange by e-mail.

In the circumstances, it would be logical to  assume that private hospitals are a refuge.  But that seems to have changed.

Private hospitals have lowered their standards these days and seem to be concerned more about money than with the health of their patients.  

My elder daughter was recently admitted to the Robinson Hospital in Randfontein in the early hours of the morning.  Twenty-four hours later she had not seen a doctor.  When I inquired about this  no one could give me a straight answer.    

What puzzled me the most was that nurses  didn’t seem to be at all surprised by this. 

They were very casual and didn’t seem to be concerned that a patient had not seen a doctor after being admitted 24 hours earlier.
Is this normal practice?
 
The unfortunate part is that we have no recourse to this kind of behaviour. 

The only thing I can do is to complain to the management, and the likely response I am to receive is that management will “investigate”, while the hospital smiles its way to the bank.  

Our health system, both public and private, is failing us. 

The unfortunate part is that there is nothing much we can do about it.