A Sunday Times colleague ended up in the casualty ward of a private Johannesburg hospital in December for a non-Covid-19 illness. As she was wheeled into the emergency room in the dark hours of an early morning, a nurse waited at the door. “Welcome to our emergency ward!” he said, before adding: “We will help you get better.” She would later recall the bizarreness of the moment but also how it made her believe she was in good hands.
The anecdote from our newsroom came to mind as the health ombudsman released a report into the death of Shonisani Lethole at the Tembisa Provincial Tertiary Hospital on Wednesday, exposing a vastly different reality.
Lethole was certainly not made to feel welcome when he was admitted. In fact, the 34-year-old did not see a shred of food for 43 hours and 24 minutes after his admission to the hospital on June 23. His situation did not improve after that. It took almost 70 hours before two registered medical practitioners assessed Lethole’s condition for the first time since his admission. He died after sending health minister Zweli Mkhize a “mayday” tweet in a desperate bid for help.
Health ombudsman Dr Malegapuru Makgoba called on the team of healthcare providers at the hospital to “take accountability and responsibility for this substandard and negligent care provided to Mr Lethole”. But it appears he was wasting his time. Its CEO, Dr Lekopane Mogaladi, told TimesLIVE on Thursday the report was misleading, one-sided and contained false information. No sign of remorse here.
This while the Gauteng health department agreed to abide by the recommendations of the report. It warned those challenging the ombud should do it in their personal capacities. The provincial health department’s response is at least a step in the right direction, though it brings little relief to Lethole’s friends and family. Mkhize should be commended for referring the matter to the ombudsman. Yet, the hospital found to be negligent is not illustrating any willingness to change its ways.
There are even more grim stats in that report. After dying of a Covid-related illness, Lethole’s body lay on a hospital bed for more than 10 hours before he was declared dead. Abandoned in both life and death.
The appalling lack of respect and care should haunt those who mistreated him. Tales like these harden the public’s stance towards healthcare workers, sadly in a time when so many good doctors and nurses are giving their all to do the impossible. Tembisa hospital should own up, apologise and vow to never let anything like this happen again. If not, Mkhize should step in and enforce change. It is, after all, thanks to his intervention that Lethole’s plight – and the shameful state at the hospital – did not get buried with him.
