Patients need to exercise patience
There were reportedly two similar yet unrelated incidents last week in which two women received bad service at the hospital
The only time you will receive medical attention from hospital staff at the Pietersburg Provincial Hospital’s casualty unit is when you already have one foot in the grave.
This opinion was expressed by disappointed residents who wished to stay anonymous.
There were reportedly two similar yet unrelated incidents last week in which two women received bad service at the hospital when they took family members to the casualty unit for emergency treatment.
One of the women said her cousin’s child had a high fever in the early hours of last Monday morning and they rushed the child to the hospital.
“It was just after 03:00 when we arrived at the hospital. The hospital personnel told us to wait, by 08:00 we were still not helped. Only at about 09:00 the child was attended to,” the woman said.
In the second incident, a woman took her mother to the hospital at about 05:00 last Tuesday morning but they were only helped more than three hours after their arrival.
“My mother had a pain in her chest, an upset stomach and a fever. We waited for what felt like forever, and when I asked the nurses when we would be helped they were short-tempered and rude,” the woman complained.
Health spokesperson, Adéle van der Linde said both these complaints had been reported to the hospital’s CEO for investigation.
“The provincial hospital has a system which they use to assess patients who report to the emergency unit. More severe cases that need immediate attention will be attended to immediately and less serious cases are assessed and given a status in terms of vital signs and consciousness,” Van der Linde explained.
She said patients would then be examined, and depending on what was found, released or admitted to hospital.
“There are doctors on duty at the emergency room 24-hours a day, but a lot of people make use of the emergency room and therefore the waiting time for less serious cases can be a bit longer. It is best for the hospital management to be made aware of bad service received so that they can attend to it personally and also for them to be aware of negligence on the part of their staff, if any.”
