Mahikeng residents say they have lost hope in the provincial health system
Some residents of Mahikeng in the North West say they have lost hope in the provincial health system as many facilities provide poor services. The province’s ailing health system has come under the spotlight after pictures went viral of babies in boxes after a shortage of cribs at the neonatal unit of the Mahikeng Provincial Hospital.
North West Health Dept to take action after newborn babies placed on boxes instead of incubators:
Some of the outpatients at the hospital shared their frustrations and unpleasant experiences, saying they don’t believe the provincial health system will ever improve.
The Mahikeng Provincial Hospital is one of several public facilities whose patients often express frustration over a myriad of challenges. Among them are shortage of medication and equipment and unhygienic facilities. Ill-treatment and bad attitudes from the nurses also top the list.
Some of the patients criticised the department, saying it fails to implement consequence management when unfair treatment is reported. One of them is an outpatient, who wished to remain anonymous, saying she laid complaints of ill treatment and negligence numerous times, but alleges that none of the workers were held accountable.
“I don’t think the Department of Health will address its challenges. The reason why I’m saying this is because in health we have different challenges, but the most is that even if you complain, they always back up the sisters [nurses]. They don’t take action for anything that they have done. I don’t think in health we will get justice for everything that is happening there.”
She says after reporting unfair treatment on numerous occasions, she started receiving threats of being killed next time she is admitted to the facility.
“When I receive bad treatment at the hospital, I report this to management. Instead of getting help, I receive calls from anonymous saying that next time when I am admitted at the hospital, I will come out in a body bag. Outside the Mahikeng provincial hospital, more outpatients expressed their frustrations.
“At Bophelong Hospital you can easily die. I used to be admitted here a lot. They [nurses] can just look at you on the bed struggling. Even four people in one ward can die while you’re watching. When you speak, they ask you what you know about dead people. So we just keep quiet. They give us pills that make us drowsy. Its not nice at Bophelong [hospital].”
“There are several issues, but hygiene is a problem, actually. I mean it is not good when patients are around and they are faced with these problems at this hospital. So I think the Department of Health must improve on hygiene. There is no water in the wards for patients to drink. So, it’s a problem if there is no water in the wards.”
Meanwhile, the department has denied claims that it fails to thoroughly investigate and implement consequence management when patients report unfair treatment. Departmental spokesperson Tebogo Lekgethwane explains:
“The department does not take light the issue of patient ill treatment, and we have so many cases that we can point to where, for example, the nurses were brought through disciplinary hearings because of how they treated the patients, and it’s not true that there is no consequence management.”
The communities who rely on this public health care facility are pleading with the department to improve its services.
Source: SABC
In other news – Zandile Khumalo continues with her testimony in Senzo Meyiwa’s murder trial
Zandile Khumalo, a state witness in the Senzo Meyiwa murder trial, will return to the stand on Monday when the case resumes in Pretoria’s High Court on Monday.
She is the sister of Kelly Khumalo, Meyiwa’s girlfriend and she was among the people who were present when Meyiwa was shot and killed at her home in Vosloorus, East of Johannesburg, in October 2014. Learn more
