AN unemployed housewife in KwaZulu-Natal is patiently waiting to die.

Nono Padayachee, 42, was diagnosed with kidney failure seven months ago, and has been waiting for a referral to the state-of-the-art, 846-bed Inkosi Albert Luthuli Hospital for dialysis treatment.

Padayachee has been forced to wait at her Bayview home in Chatsworth, Durban, until she can receive the specialist care.

"I've almost given up hope of ever getting dialysis treatment ... I want it all to end," she said.

Dialysis treatment is a process used to remove waste and excess water from the blood and is used primarily to provide an artificial replacement for lost kidney function.

Two weeks ago, distraught and "feeling defeated", Padayachee pleaded with her family to take out a funeral policy, sort out all her affairs and make preparations for her funeral.

"I cannot escape the fact that I'm going to die ... it's just a matter of when, if I don't get the treatment soon," she said.

One of the doctors aware of Padayachee's nightmare said every month dozens of terminally ill patients were sent home - to wait until they could get a bed or treatment at a specialist hospital.

"But unfortunately many die at their homes before they get any treatment," he said.

A specialist at Inkosi Albert Luthuli Hospital says the average waiting time for a patient to receive specialist care ranges from two to eight months.

He and several other doctors interviewed said that critically ill patients who wanted specialist care for:

• Ear, nose and throat (ENT) could wait up to six months;
• Gastroenterology (digestive system) for five months;
• Urology (kidney, prostate cancer) between four and six months;
• Rheumatology (bones, arthritis) up to eight months;
• Cardiology (disorders of the heart) up to four months;
• Renal failure (a medical condition in which the kidneys fail to adequately filter toxins and waste products from the blood) between four to six months; and
• Neurosurgery (diagnosis, treatment and rehabilitation of disorders which affect any portion of the nervous system including the brain and spinal cord) up to three months.

One state doctor, who regularly monitors his patients while they wait for referrals to be granted, said the healthcare system had failed a lot of South Africans.

"If you do not have the financial means, you are forced to use state hospitals which provide below the standard care and compromise lives."

He added: "It's depressing because we have taken the oath to save lives. It's disappointing to be working in a failing environment. We know what patients want and need but we just can't offer it because it's not available. We treat patients based on what we have."

Padayachee, who was discharged from RK Khan Hospital in Chatsworth and sent home to wait to be transferred to Inkosi Albert Luthuli Hospital in July last year, is bedridden and often has a flash of hope when her telephone rings.