Social media can be a force for good

Private hospitals are not five-star hotels, but prompt treatment and a soft touch should come as standard, says Georgie. Picture: Cindy Waxa

Private hospitals are not five-star hotels, but prompt treatment and a soft touch should come as standard, says Georgie. Picture: Cindy Waxa

Published Jun 20, 2016

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A flood of complaints about service at private hospital have sparked some action, writes Georgina Crouth.

Social media posts can open a Pandora’s box. Just ask Matthew Theunissen, Penny Sparrow, Gauteng sports, arts and culture department lackey Velaphi Khumalo and legions of others who have vented on Facebook and Twitter and suffered unsurprising backlashes.

That though is the dark side of social media.

It can also start important conversations and jolt service providers into action. On June 13 at about 7.30pm, a post to a community group in Midrand opened the proverbial flood gates to complaints about a private hospital’s service - mostly relating to the casualty department.

It read as follows: “Hi Midranders. Just sharing an experience regarding Netcare Waterfall Casualty.

“My mom had a minor accident and needed some stitches. We went in around 3pm and returned home at 7.30pm. Apparently only one (doctor) on duty to reduce costs.

“I can’t get my mind around how this place gets names such as Trauma, Casualty or Emergency (sic). Shame on you Netcare. You are a disappointment to the Midrand community.”

By the following morning, about 100 posts to the group highlighted poor service, long queues, staff shortages and how other hospitals in the area were better propositions.

Patients said they were treated as a number, shown little compassion, made to wait forever to be treated by a single, overworked emergency doctor. One pregnant woman in pain was apparently told to go home and take a Panado.

Kinda sounds like a government hospital, doesn’t it?

“A five-hour wait with a fractured shoulder only to be told they can’t find anything, come back the next day for a sonar.”

“I had a blood clot in my lung and couldn’t breathe.

“I was rushed to the emergency unit as they were scared the clot would go to my heart. Again, I waited three hours for someone to see me and they did not offer me oxygen or anything to help me breathe. Appaling.

“Why build the damn hospital if you can’t afford doctors?”

“That hospital is no different from public hospitals when it comes to poor customer service. I now drive to Milpark Hospital rather than subject myself to paying high bills for bad service.”

And so the complaints kept coming: a car crash victim put into a room for hours, writhing in agony; young children with high fevers waiting hours for attention; patients being sent home with hurt limbs, only to be contacted days later to say they were in actual fact fractured. Granted, there are “peak times” in emergency rooms but then more staff should be on hand to assist.

With first-hand experience having worked as a volunteer counsellor at a state hospital in the 1990s, the comparison with the government offering isn’t exactly kind because you’d expect service at private facilities to be on another level, but clearly these Midranders didn’t feel their medical aid money was well spent.

Private hospitals are not five-star hotels, though you do expect more prompt treatment and a softer touch.

Netcare’s PR Martina Nicholson was the first to make contact, thanking me for raising the matter with them and stating it was “unfortunate” people took to social media to vent their frustration rather than contact the hospital directly.

Point taken but then she added that the hospital was already in the process of addressing the issues, but now the media attention had added more urgency.

Lives are at stake though, I suggested, and I too have experienced excruciatingly long waits at another of the group’s casualty departments.

Rolien Kuhne, the Netcare Waterfall City Hospital’s general manager, then wrote: “Thank you for affording us the opportunity to respond to the comments posted about the services of the emergency department at Netcare Waterfall City Hospital.

“We were very distressed to read the comments posted on the community Facebook page when they were brought to our attention by a member of the Midrand community yesterday afternoon and can only apologise for failing to meet the expectations of the individuals concerned.

“While it is most disconcerting to receive complaints of this nature, we are always thankful to be made aware of how our clients perceive and experience our services as such feedback enables us to address any shortfalls there may be in our service delivery.

“We have subsequently asked to join the Midrand community Facebook page so that we can monitor any issues or concerns pertaining to the hospital and engage with the individuals directly and with the community. We have also posted a message on the Facebook page inviting anyone concerned to kindly contact us directly so that we may engage with them on an individual basis.

“It is our aim to treat each and every patient and their families with absolute care and dignity. We have various mechanisms in place for this purpose, including our iPad survey, or by completing our questionnaires sent to patients by either e-mail or SMS, after their discharge from hospital.

“We actively encourage patients to provide us with feedback regarding our service as soon as possible so that we can address their concerns promptly.

“The comments outlined in the Facebook pages unfortunately do not give sufficient information to enable us to investigate and follow up on the individual concerns.

“We would therefore like to take this opportunity to invite any of the individuals concerned to contact us directly so that we can meet with them personally to fully understand their concerns and take measures to improve our service where needed.

“For background purposes, as in the case of most other private hospitals, the emergency department at Netcare Waterfall City Hospital is under the management of an independent doctor practice, and the doctors practising in the department are not employed by the hospital.

“All clinical decisions about patients’ treatment are made by doctors.

“The emergency department functions 24 hours per day, seven days per week and health-care specialists practising within the unit will see all patients who are in need of emergency medical assistance.

“The department is equipped and staffed for emergency cases and makes use of a triage system to prioritise severity of illness or injury. Unfortunately, patients can therefore not be seen on a first-come-first-served basis.

“We are in ongoing service delivery improvement discussions with Drs Monteith, Nay, Wells and Heyman Inc, the practice responsible for running the emergency department at Netcare Waterfall City Hospital. The feedback provided by members of the community via Facebook will assist us greatly with these discussions.

“I wish to apologise unreservedly to those patients and their families who have had negative experiences at the emergency department and wish to personally assure the community served by Netcare Waterfall City Hospital, that we have the best interests of our patients at heart and that we remain committed to providing them with quality clinical care, and to caring for them with compassion, dignity, respect and appreciation.”

The apology from the hospital’s management was followed up by a post from the emergency doctors themselves, asking for complaints to be directed their way.

Both doctors and management appear to be eager to resolve the issues and to work with the community.

You could ask though - why is management seemingly last to know about these issues?

If they were aware, as it was at first suggested, why did it need media attention to add more urgency?

Part of the problem could lie in the fact that it seems patients weren’t complaining to them - they either put up with the slow service or if they waited too long, they simply went to another hospital.

Wise up. Here's how!

What is triage: Netcare explained that their accident and emergency facilities use the SA Triage Scale for the assessment of all patients visiting the casualty department. “The aim of the triage system is to ensure that staff are able to deliver time-critical treatment for patients with life-threatening conditions. The higher the score, the greater the urgency. The triage scale can be used for all patients whether adult, child or infant presenting with medical, surgical or trauma conditions or injuries. Ambulance patients are taken directly into the emergency department and assessed for level of priority. All other patients are directed to triage.”

If deemed not critical: If you are classified as a green patient, up to four hours waiting time is acceptable. So, if you can avoid the emergency room, do - after-hours consultations should be a last resort.

Direct your complaints: If you have a complaint about service at the Waterfall Netcare, direct it to Debbi Tucker at [email protected]. Include the name of the patient, date of visit as well as your contact details. If you have a complaint about another private hospital, contact the management and/your medical aid - you are, after all, paying for a service and if you’re not getting it, this needs to be brought to someone’s attention.

* Georgina Crouth is a consumer watchdog with serious bite. Write to her at [email protected]. Check out more helpful consumer tips and advice at [email protected]

** Follow Georgie on Twitter: @askgeorgie

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