Young life lost
Family angry after death of 21 year-old hospital patient
THE negligence of staff at Ngwelezana Hospital led to the death of a 21 year-old Richards Bay man on Monday.
That’s the angry accusation from the family of Sheldon Sathianathan (21) who died in hospital after becoming ill a few days earlier, complaining of chest pains.
His general practitioner referred him to Ngwelezana Hospital on Thursday, where his aunt Sally Pillay says the youngster underwent x-rays and blood tests.
The results were all negative and he was sent home.
During the night his condition deteriorated and he began coughing blood.
They returned to hospital on Friday morning where the doctor told them there was nothing wrong and they should leave.
‘His condition continued to worsen and we were back at hospital in the early hours of Saturday morning.
‘By Sunday morning we visited the Nseleni Community Clinic and were referred back to Ngwelezana Hospital where the doctor who had been attending to us on the previous days told us she was ‘tired of us and there was nothing wrong with the patient and we must leave,’ said Pillay.
‘For those four consecutive days we waited for hours to be attended to by the doctor, only to be told to leave because nothing was wrong with him.
‘We were desperate and eventually sought a second opinion from a surgeon at a private hospital in Richards Bay.
‘Tests were conducted and revealed he had a liver infection.
‘The doctor had given us a letter stating he was a red code patient and should be attended to immediately, but when we got Ngwelezana that night the waiting game continued, and he was only taken into a ward much later.
‘During this time he did not receive any medication or treatment. He was treated as a normal patient despite having the ‘red code’ letter and our efforts to explain the urgency were not even considered,’ she said.
Meanwhile the youngster, who had a run-in with the law in 2011, was ‘back on the right track’ and his family were disappointed that his dreams and aspirations were cut short in what they allege was medical negligence.
According to his uncle Vis Pillay, Sathianathan had been working at a trucking company for four months and he had plans to further his tertiary studies.
‘He was a breadwinner and leaves behind his mother, brother, sister and a niece.
‘He had such a bright future and was involved in the youth ministry and wanted to contribute to society in a positive way.
‘It is sad that patients are treated in such a poor manner at a public hospital.
‘They talk about ‘Batho Pele – Putting people first’ but have no urgency to help.
‘We do not want another life to be lost because of negligence and poor service,’ he said.
Nqwelezana Hospital spokesperson, Tobias Gumede confirmed that the complaint is currently under investigation.
‘We will be in a position to comment when the matter has been finalised,’ he said.
HOW SAD ,IS THIS FOR REAL ??? THE DOCTOR MUST BE BROUGHT TO BOOK. HOW COULD NGWELEZANE STAFF/ DOCTORS NOT ATTEND TO A PATIENT WITH A RED CODE CARD .? A LIFE HAS BEEN LOST HERE THROUGH TOTAL NEGLIGENCE .I FIND THIS UNACCEPTABLE AND QUITE DISGUSTING .DOCTORS SHOULD KNOW BETTER .
Shouldn’t the whole story be investigated before writing an article like this?
An investigation is currently being conducted by Ngwelezana Hospital.
this is totally shocking and not the first time a life has been lost.Seems like the hospital is just there to employ people that dont want to do their work.Nothing has changed in years and its getting worse.Pathetic.I am sure if it was a well known person the staff would jump now its to late.
A friend of mine was also there. Her sugar levels were at one stage 22. But they kept saying we need to wait for blood results. She was there from 3 in the morning. She was in a lot of pain. She did not know where she was. A Doctor came out and asked why have we been there so long and we said waiting for blood test. He said that you can see this woman is in need of medical attention and to admit her. He told us to complain to the Doctor who was so called watching over her. When we did she had such a stinky attitude. We went also to the PRO of the hospital to complain. He was very pleasant. But he could not even speed the process for us. I cant believe they take an oath, but they just don’t care anymore. She was only admitted that afternoon.
If only every one took their job seriously I am sure this youngest would not have lost his life. To me it appears that this job is not about the love of helping others but rather about the salary cheque at the end of the month. What about the oath that is taken before deciding on you vocation . OOps sorry that means nothing.
it will be interesting to hear what the minister of healh has to say about this.come on aaron m,what have you got to say?
The problem lies with a large number of government employees. They just don’t care about great service. oops! what is that? The staff especially in the healthcare, should treat every single patient, irrespective of colour, with the utmost of respect, and all cases as urgent matters. Tell me, why would someone go to the Hospital? He/She goes there for fun, because it’s so clean and exciting! Please hospital staff, go and learn about cleanliness and about customer service or patient treatment. Please lose your pathetic, arrogant, casual attitude you display towards
patients and people who come to your hospital.
Oh, a point to note. Maybe future patients need to video record their experience at the Hospital, and use it as evidence against the incompetent people who tarnish the name of Ngwelezane Hospital.
Well I think he deserved far worse after Raping that 13 year old girl!!! Karma is a bad and oh boy did he get what he deserved.