Burn victim left to wait

SEKHUKHUNE – A patient at St Rita’s Hospital in Jane Furse has described the public health-care treatment as “shocking and tragic.” Ishmael Komane, from Tukakgomo, said he was taken to St Rita’s on September 2 after he had suffered burn wounds. “I arrived at the hospital at about 14:00. I had to wait for more than two hours before I could be treated.”There were no long queues, only five to six people who mostly claimed to have come for check-ups for chronic diseases,”Komane said.He claimed that at around 16:30, he asked the nurses to call for an ambulance to take him to a private doctor, as they were not willing to help him.”They blatantly refused and told me that it was not their duty.

“I remained at the hospital’s waiting area, experiencing pain and no one helping me,” Komane said. He said when it was his turn to be helped, other patients who were involved in an accident arrived. “I was told by the doctors that my condition was not serious and I should go back to the waiting room, so that they could help the patients with emergencies.”Komane said he witnessed how other patients were ill-treated and interrogated by the nurses. “One of the patients told the nurses she felt pain after they dressed her wounds without giving her pain medication, they told her she did not want help.” Komane decided to leave the hospital.”I decided that my family should take me to a private clinic. I am now recovering well at home,” he added. “I wish these people would get some discipline from the government,” he added. Spokesman for health in the province, Derrick Kganyago, said it always wanted to ensure patients were treated well at hospitals. “We are not aware of these complaints, but we will do our investigations to ensure that such treatment stops,” Kganyago said.