Durban - A Durban renal patient says he was neglected by nurses and a doctor at Inkosi Albert Luthuli Hospital and left to lie in a messed bed, after the contents of his stoma bag leaked on to his wound and his bed.
Shayne Kyle Koekemoer, 30, of the Bluff, said he was admitted to the facility about three weeks ago due to abdominal pain. This resulted in a part of his intestine being removed and, thereafter, he underwent stoma surgery due to septicaemia, a bloodstream infection.
Stoma surgery involves making a small opening on the surface of the abdomen to divert the flow of faeces and/or urine into an external bag.
“When I woke up this morning (Tuesday) the stoma bag had separated from the wound, which caused all of its contents to leak all over me and the bed. Stomach acid and faeces from this bag has leaked into the main cut, which is next to the stoma bag and I’m scared this can cause it to become septic,” Koekemoer said.
He said he was developing blisters caused by stomach acid and that he had been lying in the soiled linen, with no-one attending to him or changing the linen.
Nurses were reluctant to assist him with changing the bag, saying he would have to wait for a stoma nurse to come through, which is generally every two to three days.
Instead of receiving clean linen, he said gauze was put on his stomach to collect his stomach contents.
“My mother and partner tried to call a doctor to inform him about the situation but the doctor simply slammed the phone down,” he said.
Koekemoer said his partner, Candice de Jager, then contacted Dr Imraan Keeka, the DA provincial spokesperson on health.
Keeka said he had written to Dr Musa Gumede, the provincial head of the Health Department, asking for his urgent intervention.
However, Gumede told the Daily News he was unaware of the incident and unable to comment.
Meanwhile, Keeka said responses to parliamentary questions revealed that there were about 8000 vacancies in the department, including both critical and non-critical posts.
“The neglect seen in our facilities results from overworked staff, as a result of these shortages,” said Keeka.
“The ballooning of the medico-legal bill from R10.2billion in the last financial year to over R17billion makes this very clear. In this matter, it is unacceptable that this patient was left in such a state of neglect and that he had to lie in his own faecal matter, without any care.”