On Wednesday, the health ombudsman released a report that found Gauteng’s Tembisa Hospital was not only substandard but negligent after the death, on June 30 2020, of Shonisani Lethole.
The 34-year-old died there after testing positive for Covid-19.
Before he died, reported TimesLIVE, Lethole took to social media to tell health minister Zweli Mkhize about what he said were deplorable conditions at the hospital. He also said he was being starved.
Since ombud Dr Malegapuru Makgoba’s ruling, Sunday Times Daily has spoken to three people who say they were mistreated at the hospital.
These are their stories.
Busisiwe Twala started experiencing labour pains on June 15 2014. Her boyfriend, her mother and a family member took her to Tembisa Hospital.
When they arrived at the Gauteng facility at 11.55am, nurses said they could not locate her file.
Twala said this surprised her as she had visited the hospital a few weeks earlier for a check-up. She was scheduled for a caesarean section on June 20 because she was carrying twins.
Twala had to open a new file and went to the labour ward with it.
“There, we were met by a nurse, but I was in so much pain that I couldn’t answer her questions, so my mom spoke to her.”
She said she remembered her mother asking the nurse very politely to get a doctor for her because she was having twins.
“The nurse turned to my mom and said: ‘Are you a nurse? The file doesn’t say anything about twins. There’s nothing I can do’.”
Twala said after her mother and boyfriend left, the same nurse asked her why she was with a coloured man. She told her it was none of her business.
The nurse told her doctors were not there and she remained in the waiting room from 1pm to 6pm, when she screamed to attract the attention of nursing staff.
When a second nurse asked the first nurse why Twala was not being assisted, she said: “There’s nothing I can do. No doctors want to work at this time when tomorrow is a public holiday.”
Twala said she gave birth in the waiting room.
“I ended up pushing because of the pain. My baby girl came out crying, but I couldn’t push the second one. It was just too hard.”
Twala said a few minutes after the girl was born, a doctor arrived to help.
“There was a faint heartbeat. He told me to push and he would pull the baby out. I was informed that I could not be taken to the theatre as they were never notified about me or my condition.”
Twala said the doctor continued to pull the baby, but it was in breech position.
“He kept on trying, but in the end he turned to the nurses and said: ‘The baby is dead’. That’s how I lost my daughter.”
Twala said it was difficult to talk about that day.
“I ask myself, was I not assisted because I was dating a coloured man? Why and how did they lose my file? If they had my file they would’ve seen that I was booked for a C-section. They would’ve rushed me to the theatre and my baby would be alive today.”
Her ordeal with the hospital did not end there. Six weeks later she returned.
“I needed my file so I could claim insurance from work, but it was lost, again.”
Twala said staff at the hospital should start treating people with dignity.
Nonhlanha Singwayo told of the death of his father, who was sent to the hospital on July 11 last year.
The man, who was hypertensive and had previously suffered a stroke, was feeling weak the day he was sent there, but was walking and talking.
“My mom brought his chronic medication with her. She tried to show the nurses, but they did not make a note of his medication upon admission.”
My mother was instructed to sit outside the ward and wait for assistance. She waited for hours, only to be told to go home, without any explanation and still unable to give them my father's medication.
— Nonhlanha Singwayo
Her mother left the hospital with the contact number, but when the family called the number the next day, there was no answer.
“Luckily my sister managed to get hold of them. She was told he was still sitting in a wheelchair where we left him and had not been admitted.”
On July 13, Singwayo’s mother was called to the hospital as her husband’s condition had changed.
Though there was a struggle to locate her father, he was eventually found in the Covid-19 ward.
“My mother was instructed to sit outside the ward and wait for assistance. She waited for hours, only to be told to go home, without any explanation and still unable to give them my father's medication.”
When Singwayo called the hospital on July 14, a doctor there informed her that her father had tested positive for Covid-19.
When she called back to find out more about his diagnosis, Singwayo was told by nurses that they were still awaiting his results and suggested she speak to the doctor.
For the next few days, the family tried to contact the ward, but had no luck reaching the doctor or getting more information about his condition.
On July 21, the hospital summoned her mother to discuss her father’s results.
The next day, Singwayo and her mother arrived at the hospital on time — the were told to be there at 8am — and were instructed to wait outside.
It was only when Singwayo started shouting that they were ushered inside, where a nurse told her that her father had died, even though the staff had tried everything.
“I have so many questions about my late father’s stay in the casualty and Covid wards of Tembisa Hospital.
“Why did my father spend his first night in hospital sleeping in a wheelchair in the casualty ward? Why was he taken to the Covid ward before his results were confirmed? Did the hospital follow its Covid regulations or did my father contract the virus in the hospital?”
Singwayo also wants to know why the hospital did not help her with his chronic medicine and why staff there waited more than 24 hours to tell the family her father had died.
“In my last conversation with the hospital I was told my complaints had been received and that I should wait five working days for a response. I am still waiting.”
“I am not complaining about my father’s death, but the treatment he received. They lied and we need answers. I will not rest until this matter is dealt with.”
Nobantu Grootboom went to Tembisa for an eye operation in April 2019.
Her eyes did not improve and she lost her sight. In July that year she visited an optometrist, hoping glasses would help.
She was told the operation had damaged her eyesight and she would need R23,000 for a specialist to operate and try to rectify the problem.
Swartbooi said the St John’s Eye Hospital in Soweto said it might be able to assist, but required a referral letter from Tembisa Hospital.
“We went back to Tembisa Hospital, but they refused to help us with a referral letter or examine me. Instead, they told me to call the clinic to get a referral letter, which did not make sense because my operation was done at Tembisa Hospital,” she said.
Swartbooi, 57, said her husband is a pensioner and their three children, aged between 17 and 25, are unemployed.
“I have not been able to work since I lost my eyesight.”
She said the hospital was standing in the way of her receiving help.
“The doctor who operated on me must be held accountable for negligence. There is still a chance for me to see, but I am losing hope because we do not have R23,000 and we are still being refused a referral letter from Tembisa,” Swartbooi said.
Lethole’s family says it will take legal action against the hospital, but the others are still planning their next steps.
Lali Tshikalange, speaking on behalf of others who have allegedly been mistreated at Tembisa Hospital, said they say they would rather die at home than go to the facility.
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.