I am utterly disgusted with the service many receive at the Mitchell's Plain District Hospital.
This is my complaint on behalf of my mom, aged 75.
She fell, hurt her back and 30-minutes later complained about a headache.
We noticed that she had swelling on the left side of her head. Touching it hurt.
You do not play with an elderly person's health, especially after a fall and the person has a cardiac condition, with a ratio of 35 percent of her heart working. She is also diabetic.
We rushed her immediately to hospital because she is a palliative care patient and I am her caregiver. She is also wheelchair bound.
I am disgusted at the service she received. We arrived at 8pm Wednesday June 26 and at 2.20am Thursday June 27 we were still waiting, with her in a wheelchair and in pain.
I approached the sister in charge and the doctor who went off shift at 11pm and was told the next doctor on call would see her after another patient. Almost three hours later we were still sitting waiting.
Her body was sore. There was no sympathy for our pensioners or our elders. The service sucks. It was a pathetic service, the hospital was not busy at all. Only two doctors to see patients in trauma.
The hospital needs better wheelchairs. Needs toilet facilities within the hospital for the trauma patients. My mom had to use a toilet outside of the facility. The waiting time for assistance needs to change.
My mom is our jewel but your staff think they are the world as they treat patients like nothing.
You need to do something regarding your health facility.
The Western Cape Government Health and Wellness can confirm that the patient was treated at Mitchell’s Plain District Hospital. We extend our apologies to her and her mother for the long waiting time and the experience received when accessing services at the hospital.
She arrived at the emergency centre at 8.18pm on Wednesday June 26 and spent a total of seven-hours in the emergency centre (EC).
On her arrival, the EC had a total of 73 patients waiting for emergency care, including her.
She was triaged and received pain medication until a doctor was available to attend to her.
According to Ms Abrahams, the EC was not busy, but we would like your readers to be aware that the EC has paediatric, resuscitation, major incident and minor incident areas that our medical teams have to ensure care to adults and children requiring life-threatening injuries or illnesses.
We had 4 doctors on night duty on 26 June who were allocated to these specific areas, and a total of 9 nurses.
Majority of the patients requiring care on the day were people who needed life-saving treatment and each case takes time due to the nature of their healthcare status.
The female and disabled toilet is fully functional in the emergency centre, and the male toilet is undergoing repairs.
We do prioritise our elderly and children based on the level of their emergency and will attend to your needs as soon as a doctor is available.
Our EC does not take appointments and we do not prioritise patients on a ‘first come, first serve’ basis.
You will be triaged according to the nature and extent of your injuries or illness and life-threatening cases do take preference.
Our teams are working under pressure with limited staffing resources and doing the best they can to provide a person-centred healthcare service to patients especially after facing a national budget cut this year.
In the last few months, you may have seen articles in the media about pressure on the budget and resources in public healthcare. For the current financial year, the department has a budget of R30.48 billion – an increase of only 2.5% on the previous year’s budget.
Because this increase is not on par with inflation, the department has less money in hand, and our healthcare teams are providing a service within the context of a shrinking budget and an ageing and growing population that relies on us.
Mitchell’s Plain Hospital is making a concerted effort to shield patients from the impact of the budget constraints, but patients are unfortunately feeling the impact of the limited resources, including longer waiting times due to staff shortages in the instance of the emergency centre. We are doing everything we can.
You can also help us by only coming to the emergency unit when you have an emergency or life-threatening illness or injury.
If you are triaged as green by a healthcare worker, meaning you are stable with minor injuries or illnesses, then please expect to wait longer for healthcare services at our emergency centre or you can access services at your nearest day hospital.
Arrangements have been made for Ms Abrahams to meet with the hospital’s management to discuss her concerns.
There are several options to use and share your complaint or concerns and compliments.
Firstly, the manager is always a good place to start. He or she can answer your questions then and there. If you prefer, you can also drop your feedback in our complaint boxes located and clearly marked throughout the hospital. You can also send an SMS to 31022 with details. Alternatively, we have a toll-free number 086 014 2142.
You also have the option of sending a Please Call Me to 079 769 1207 or email us at service@westerncape.gov.za.
Our management team investigates all the feedback we receive from these dedicated platforms and will respond to individual complainants.