Durban - THE family of a KwaDukuza woman, who was allegedly denied treatment at a local clinic, have called for an investigation into the nursing staff.
Shiven Konar said he took his elder sister, Reshmee Deokie, 42, of Lot 14, to a clinic in Glen Hills last Monday because she was suffering with headaches.
Konar claimed that when they arrived, the nurses refused to assist and the family ended up taking his sister to the local hospital.
The mother of five, who had high blood pressure, suffered a brain haemorrhage and died on Saturday.
“The nursing staff failed to do a basic check on my sister. They instead played the pass-the-patient game.”
On the day of the incident, Konar said his mother called to inform him Deokie was unwell.
“When I arrived home, she was screaming and crying as she held her head. She even pulled out some of her hair. We rushed her to the clinic, which is about 2km away.
“While we were in the car, I sent a friend to get help as my sister had seizures and began frothing. My friend returned and told me the nurse, who stood at the clinic door, wanted us to go to the back rooms.”
The rooms, he said, were in fact containers on the clinic premises and served as the secondary treatment area.
“I reversed the car and my friend went to get help. A nurse stood at the container doorway and instructed us to return to the main clinic. We did not know what to do, and did as we were told.”
He said by this stage his sibling was unresponsive and he begged the nurse, who now approached their car from the container, for help.
“She told me to put my sister in a wheelchair and take her to the main clinic.”
Konar claimed that when he asked her to assist in helping them remove his sister from the car, the nurse refused.
The security guards, he added, also refused to help.
The same nurse then allegedly told them she did not know what to do and could not help them, and walked away.
Konar and his friend took Deokie to the Stanger Hospital.
“Some of us are unable to afford medical aid, but we don’t expect to be treated so poorly.”
Noluthando Nkosi, spokesperson for the KZN Department of Health, said: “The department is extremely concerned at the treatment allegedly received by a patient and her next-of-kin at one of its facilities.
“Without prejudice, the department wishes to extend its condolences to the family and friends of the deceased.
“The department is looking into the matter and has asked for a full report from the district under whose jurisdiction the clinic falls.
"This report will then be reviewed at head office, and the department will not hesitate to take the appropriate action, should any individual(s) be found guilty of any kind of wrongdoing.”