Staff ignore patient in soiled bed at Thelle Mogoerane Hospital

10 December 2015

Staff at the Thelle Mogoerane Hospital in Vosloorus (formerly New Natalspruit) ignored a patient when he asked for assistance to go to the toilet, and did nothing to clean him up for a full day after he soiled his bed.

A 50-year-old male relative of Ekurhuleni DA councillor Hloni Mtshali was admitted to the hospital on Tuesday night this week.

He was not given hospital pajamas and lay in his own dirty clothes and soiled bed for the whole of Wednesday. The drip in his arm was not adjusted and no fluid was flowing. He had not been seen by a doctor either.

When Clr Mtshali tried to get the staff to clean his bed and attend to him he was ignored even after he tried to lay a complaint.

This is one of many stories about poor treatment at this new hospital which was opened with great fanfare in August last year.

Staff attitudes at the hospital are clearly a problem, and are worsened by high staff shortages.

The hospital has a bad reputation that will only improve if management makes serious attempts to attend to patients' complaints.

Issued by Jack Bloom, Shadow Health MEC, DA Gauteng, 10 December 2015