Johannesburg - Fifty-year-old Nomsa Dhlongolo passed away at Chris Hani Baragwanath Academic Hospital during the early hours of Thursday morning. And her sister Lorraine Mashao is adamant that the nurses helping her could have done better.
Dhlongolo was admitted to ward 21 last Friday night, and early on Sunday, she fell while trying to get to the bathroom in her unstable condition.
Mashao told The Star that Dhlongolo, a mother-of-three, had told her the nurses were all sleeping at the time of her accident, and were unable to give her assistance.
Dhlongolo’s accident caused another patient’s bed to roll away, and then that patient fell off her bed too. It was only then that the nurses woke up to attend to the concerned and rowdy ward.
The nurses managed to get the other patient back into her bed but didn't do the same with Dhlongolo. When Dhlongolo’s son and Mashao came to see her on Sunday afternoon, they were shocked to find her still on the ground.
The nurses told the family that she was too heavy for them to pick up, even after four security guards tried to assist.
Health Department spokesman Steve Mabona denied that the nurses were sleeping on duty, but instead said they were busy with routine checks on other patients.