Johannesburg - A Pretoria family are accusing Life Wilgers Hospital of negligence after their ill father slipped into a coma after allegedly being refused full admission and being transported to another facility more than 50km away.
Piet Steinmann, 70, who suffers from Parkinson’s disease, was taken to the hospital around 5pm on Sunday, complaining of abdominal pain and trouble breathing. Although he was taken into the hospital’s casualty unit, his family said the specialists who were meant to be on duty were not on the premises and therefore were unable to book him into the hospital.
Steinmann’s wife Fienie said numerous specialists associated with the hospital were phoned to come in, but they all refused.
Seven hours after the family’s arrival, the staff said a bed and specialist would be available at Arwyp Medical Centre in Kempton Park. However, this meant transporting the critically ill man more than 50km. “He was in trouble, why couldn’t they have treated him at the hospital where he already was?” asked Steinmann’s son Tiaan.
About 12km from Arwyp, Steinmann had a heart attack in the ambulance, and it took more than an hour for the paramedics to resuscitate him.
“I was frantic, screaming at the paramedics. I thought he was dead,” said Fienie.
The paramedics were unable to wake Steinmann and he has remained in a coma ever since.
The family believe that if Steinmann had been treated at Wilgers, he might not have become comatose.
“The nurses and other staff were trying to help him (at Wilgers) but the doctors (meant to be on duty) just didn’t care,” said Tiaan.
Wilgers Hospital manager André Joseph told The Star: “Due to unforeseen circumstances, the physician scheduled to be on call was not able to fulfil his duties. The availability of physicians is hampered by a national shortage of medical staff. The hospital was therefore closed for ambulance transfers, but remained open for walk-in cases, as the attending trauma doctor was available to stabilise and treat immediate traumas.”
He said the trauma doctor had decided that Steinmann’s condition required a specialist physician and ICU admission.
“The family were informed of this decision and told there was no specialist physician available at the hospital. The family’s preference was for the patient to be treated at Life Wilgers Hospital, so the staff did everything possible to find an available physician.
“The patient received the appropriate care, monitoring and stabilisation in the emergency unit and was assessed by the trauma doctor to be stable enough for the transfer.”
The Star