Northdale Hospital in Pietermaritzburg is under scrutiny following cases of alleged staff negligence reported to KwaZulu-Natal Health, reports Health24. Recent complaints from the community have thrust the public hospital into the spotlight with patients reporting experiences of bad treatment and poor services.
According to the report, the family of 76-year-old John Sivalingum said he was left on a wheelchair battling to breathe in casualty for almost 11 hours without a portable oxygen tank. This is despite a doctor suggesting the pensioner be given a breathing aid before seeing him at the X-ray department last week.
A wheelchair-bound Sharm Naidoo is quoted in the report as saying that she had a high fever and went to the hospital for a check-up but was told, much to her surprise, that she has arthritis – by a doctor who did not even examine her. Another concerned patient Cynthia Ball complained that the eye clinic was not supplying glasses.
KwaZulu-Natal’s health spokesperson Noluthando Khumalo said the department was aware of the complaints. “On Sivalingum’s case the department is still waiting for a full report from the hospital and I would advise the family to lodge a formal complaint with the public relations officer for further investigation,” she said.
Khumalo added that she found Naidoo’s complaint “disturbing” and said the department would follow up to get clarity. “The eyeglass matter is an issue which the department of health is still resolving since the eye clinic only opens Mondays, Tuesdays by appointment,” she said in the report .
[link url="https://www.health24.com/News/Public-Health/patients-accuse-yet-another-kwazulu-natal-hospital-of-negligence-20190816"]Health24 report[/link]