Hospital death not due to lack of a surgeon, says health department

27 December 2018 - 17:55 By Nonkululeko Njilo
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The Free State health department says there is always a surgeon on call at all hospitals. File photo.
The Free State health department says there is always a surgeon on call at all hospitals. File photo.
Image: Gallo Images/Thinkstock

The Free State department of health has denied claims that a patient died because no surgeon was available to perform an emergency operation at a hospital in the province.

A person took to Twitter in the early hours of Thursday saying they had just lost a family member because "there was no surgeon to do an emergency operation in the whole of the Free State in any [government] hospital".

Provincial health spokesperson Mondli Mvambi acknowledged that a surgeon was not on duty at the hospital in question but said the patient had been attended to and "all clinical procedures were followed".

"We learnt of the allegations on Twitter and can confirm that they are not true. The patient and medical history was known by the hospital staff and all due processes were followed," Mvambi told TimesLIVE on Thursday.

"Yes, a surgeon was not at the hospital at that moment – but was on call at Bongani Hospital 30km away from Thusanong Hospital,” he said.

Mvambi said it was normal practice for a surgeon to be on call if one was not physically at the hospital.

"It’s impossible to have surgeons at all hospitals, all day. That does not happen anywhere in the world.

"Sometimes a surgeon is called, depending on the situation. They can advise on what must be done," he said.

"The patient was seen and attended to by staff members. All clinical procedures were followed.  Unfortunately we cannot reveal more information about the deceased patient unless the family has sat down with us and given consent," he said.    

Mvambi urged the family to consult the hospital.   

"It is within the family's right to seek answers if they are not happy or clear with procedures. Management is happy to do a case analysis of what happened," he added.   

TimesLIVE has reached out to the person who posted the tweet.


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