Patient claims he was denied medical treatment at Tembisa Hospital

A bed-ridden 83-year-old pensioner claimed he was chased away from Tembisa Hospital and denied access to medical attention because he didn’t have money. However, the hospital has denied the claim, and said even on his version, they were willing to provide him with hospital services.

Junius Maela told Tembisan he was taken to the hospital by ambulance, treated and discharged under doctor’s instructions to return for more tests and scans.

Going back, he was told to R75, which he did. “I mentioned that since I was a pensioner, I could not afford to pay for every consultation.”

He said the clerks told him to go to the nearest Sassa offices for a confirmation letter that he was a pensioner. Then he would not be charged the next time.

After getting the letter, which Tembisan had seen, he went for a scan. He was told to pay R225 before he could proceed.

“I explained my situation and told them I had submitted a letter as proof. I was taken to the senior clerk’s office where she just told me that if I had no money I could not see the doctor. I missed my appointment,” said Maela.

When Tembisan visited him at his home, he still had not received any medical attention as he still didn’t have the R225.

Hospital spokesperson Nothando Mdluli said: “Pensioners are exempted from paying provided they have submitted all necessary documents. If they do not submit the documents they will be required to pay. Those unemployed are requested to pay a minimum of R75.

“The services rendered by the hospital are tertiary hospital services, meaning our patients receive specialised treatment by specialised doctors. The only healthcare facilities where patients would not pay in South Africa are clinics. But when it comes to accessing tertiary services, every patient is required to pay.

“All emergency patients are seen and treated. Once they recover, they will be requested to pay because we would have created a debt account for the patient.

“We apologise that the patient did not receive the needed medical attention. However, according to our records, the patient was seen by our admin clerks on the day of his visit on August 5 at 10.19am at our medical outpatient department. He was referred to our main outpatient department at 11.27am where he was classified as a patient that was not supposed to pay.

“We are unable to establish what could have happened, because according to us, he should have received medical attention. Once the patient was classified as a non-paying patient no one could have chased him away based on that he was a non-paying patient.

“We are happy to assist the patient. We tried to phone him several times, however, without any success. We request that the patient come back to the hospital so he could be assisted.”