Nurse made me sleep in the toilet, TB patient claims

THE Eastern Cape Health Department has demanded a written explanation from a nurse and doctor why a severely ill tuberculosis patient was forced to sleep in a toilet.

The investigation into the alleged ill-treatment of the TB patient, Thembinkosi Mayoyi, 31, could lead to "stern action" against the two government employees.

Mayoyi spent one night on a mattress in the toilet and the next in a dilapidated shack at the rural Zithulele Mission Hospital in Mqanduli, near Mthatha, last month.

Department spokesman Siyanda Manana said the doctor and nurse involved in the incident must now provide answers.

"We're still investigating the matter ... and the nurse and the doctor concerned have been asked to give written reports," he said.

Mayoyi was suspected of having multi-drug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR) and was taken to the hospital three weeks ago after he complained of severe pain in his legs.

After arriving there, he spent the entire day waiting in a queue in the outpatients department without being attended to.

Late in the afternoon, as most of the hospital staff were changing shifts, a nurse allegedly took him to a toilet, where he slept on a mattress.

"I never asked any questions because I was in pain and desperate," he said.

The following morning, another nurse, after finding him in the toilet, took him to an old shack near the hospital's TB ward.

Coughing and shaking uncontrollably, Mayoyi's condition had deteriorated owing to the cold. He was eventually allocated a bed on his third night at the hospital.

"It's been three weeks, and no one has explained to me why I was exposed to that inhumane treatment," he said.

Mayoyi was diagnosed with TB three years ago. He wants stern action taken against the nurse. "All I wanted was medical attention ... and, instead, she humiliated me. My rights were violated."

His cousin, Ntomboxolo Mayoyi, who had taken him to hospital, described his treatment as "disgusting".

"I was there when it all happened ... When the nurse opened the toilet door, there was a dirty mattress in the corner. She then turned to me and told me he was going to sleep there."