Today just showed me once more where our health services is heading in this country.
Boet in hospital - the Medi Clinic for that matter and I have to look after him, because the nursing staff is 'not trained' enough to work with a tetraplegic. According to my knowledge, if a patient has a kidney problem the intake and output of fluids have to be monitored - at 5pm I have to go drain the bedbag that I had to put on early this morning - it had not been done throughout the day and no one has monitored his fluids ... hallo !!
At lunch I decide to go to the cafeteria for a cup of tea - what do I find??? The new hospital manager has decided that there is no need for a cafeteria at the hospital and he needs the space for a brand new grand office for himself, so ..... there is not even a vending machine in the hospital for visitors to get something to drink - there is not even a water machine with paper cups installed ~ tap water it is from a borrowed glass or mug.
That says a lot about Medi Clinic and it's service.
WORST : There is no more ER doctor on call. I you have an emergency you must state who your house doctor is. This doctor then gets called and only gets into his car to drive 1,4km to the hospital after he has confirmed with the nurse on duty that the patient has put down R800 in cash, no matter if the patient is on a medical aid fund or not - this is the doctors private call out fee that has to be paid in cash ~ not on account or by cheque - hard cash.
Yep ... super Medical Service .... we have nothing to complain about at all !!!! ThatStinks2
image14 what happened to the hippocratic oath ??
Medical services in a sorry state all over. You should see the problems here in the platteland.
I had to re-do 21 stitches in a patient's scalp which was done by a NURSE, because there were no doctors available at the state hospital over the weekend (for free, she does not have a cent - that's why she was supposed to be helped by the STATE). They gave her pain tablets and sent her on her way. She already had an infection starting under the scalp. Wouldn't you think it's common sense to give somebody antibiotics when they have gashing wounds exposing bone, after being attacked with a dirty brick?
Small children of 2-3 years with major toothache has to wait up to 3 months to be seen....
Sorry state.
image031
And all of this has continued for the past three weeks - Boet was transferred to Kimberley Hospital from Kathu --- same story there. They wanted to operate on him there and I asked for another transfer to UCT Cape Town (denied also like the request was denied in Kathu) and they decided it was more cost effective to transfer him to Medi Clinic in Bloemfontein. As you all know, we have been fighting a hard battle this side for more than two weeks now.
Main story is that the same bad service has continued from hospital to hospital... I have now thrown quite a few tantrums in this hospital and have turned all the units upside down, because I have had it with incompetend nursing staff and unattending doctors who send massive bills to my medical aid fund and to me. I have stopped asking for stuff and I am now demanding. I MAKE the doctors and specialists talk and explain, I MAKE them examine Boet properly, I MAKE them take note of the fact that the nursing staff is neglecting their duties and show the result of that to them, I DEMAND to get a dietitian for my child, I marched into the ICU ward and demanded the right mattress for Boet (hello, the nurses do not know how the electronic regulator pump operates on the mattress and how to set it for maximum stimulation and pressure relieve - I had to show them!!). Well, I also marched into the office of the hospital manager and the client relations officer and reported all this stuff to them. I also made them give me a complimentary ticket in order not to pay for parking anymore. I got a letter of excuse from the hospital manager on Friday, promising me that my complaints will be seen to. Most of them has been attended to.
I also took on the specialist himself and made myself very clear about what I thought - to such extend that Boet opened his eyes for some time and said that the people on the other side of the hospital did not want to hear me .... maybe not the best manners I had at that stage, but I got some reaction from the doctors and the specialists from there on and suddenly they do not treat me as just a worrying, meddling little mother next to her son's bed .. for some funny reason they now acknowledge me in this ongoing struggle and convert and consult with me.
We accept things just way to easily as 'it is just the way things are now' - I have come to a point where I have now said NO - it is my duty and obligation to stand up for what is right and be outspoken about it and I have a right to demand top service and medical attention and I have a right to question a doctor or specialist straight to his face and I have a right to demand second and third and even fourth opinions, because I pay for these rights. I am not going to take money out of my purse and chuck it into a bin, so why must I pay for medical services that are not rendered?
If we all take some standpoint in this, we might cause a slight wave in all of this and stir up a few things ....
Just my story and my point of view !
Bravo! Bravo! Bravo!
Good for you, Dalene. You do deserve the best treatment. It's not like you're asking for "special" treatment, just to be treated PROPERLY! I'm glad you reported the incompetence and bad service, I sincerely hope they will do something about it.
dawoman
How can they charge for parking?
You have rights Auntie, use them!
That is disgusting Dalene!!!!! and people complain here in the UK!!!!!
dawomanYou go girl .....but you should not have to.......not the S.Africa I remember!!!!
you rock
You keep going Dalene - it is a joke the way we get palmed off by "medical specialists" and I sue the term advisedly!
And these are so called " better medical facilites " think of those poor ones going to Govt hospitals .. ThatStinks2
For some reason some of the staff are treading on tip toes around me in the hospital. The specialist whom I took on (he is not even in charge over Boet anymore) greets me with a friendly smile each time he sees me and even asks about him. The security staff is on their toes and know that I am 'sorted' and treat me with special caution.
Well, my complaints have been taken notice of and there is some improvement, but there are still a few issues to be sorted out.
Yep, I stick to my believe - fight for what is right and do not let the systems and big names and companies get you down.
Don't they know that dynamite comes in small packages dawoman
Way to go Dalene! Sa, vat hulle, Flaffie!
yesno