Cold showers for sick patients at provincial hospital
The Middelburg Provincial Hospital is under scrutiny again following allegations concerning the lack of basic services for patients.
According to a community member, who asked for anonymity and has been in the hospital for nearly two weeks, patients have been subjected to cold water due to the lack of hot running water in the bathrooms.
She told the Middelburg Observer that patients have to carry buckets of hot water from the casualty ward to different wards to bathe in steel basins.
On some days, there is no hot water, even in the casualty ward.
The woman said the nurses have been trying their best to access hot water, but the matter is out of their control.
Several years ago, the Department of Health investigated the infrastructure of the hospital, prompting the Mpumalanga Government to announce plans for a new hospital.
read more:
Construction of the new hospital has been underway since November 2017, but nearly five years later, it remains incomplete.
In April, several construction companies halted work due to non-payment from the government.
It is unclear when the new hospital will officially open to alleviate the strain on the deteriorating Middelburg Provincial Hospital.
• On Tuesday, the Middelburg Observer spoke to another desperate patient, Thandi Mahlangu, a domestic worker who has been waiting to see a specialist at the Middelburg Hospital.
She told the paper that she wasn’t feeling well and kept visiting the Rockdale Clinic, where she was given medication, but the problem persisted.
Her employer then took her to a private doctor who conducted medical tests, indicating that Ms Mahlangu might have kidney problems.
The doctor gave her a note and test results to take to the provincial clinic to receive a referral to the provincial hospital.
Ms Mahlangu went to the clinic, where she was told to return on a different date to see a doctor.
She was eventually given a referral to the hospital on Monday.
Despite this, she doesn’t know when a doctor will attend to her matter, and she continues to live in pain.
• At the time of print, the Mpumalanga Department of Health had not responded to the Observer’s enquiries.
read more:
