Bonitas, the most uncaring, unsympathetic, and inefficient Medical Aid in South Africa.

On the 2 April my wife went for a mammogram. After the mammogram they did an ultra sound and because of something not looking correct they did a biopsy. The Doctor who did the biopsy advised that he was not happy and that he would be sending the scan and the report to Lancet Labs. (my wifes choice). She gave them the name of her gynecologist and her GP. Unfortunately both of the above were on leave. She was able to get her an appointment with our surgeon on the 12/4 in the afternoon. The surgeon advised that an operation was required and this was scheduled for the 23/4.. When we got home late on Friday afternoon I phoned Bonitas and requested hospital authorization and gave them the full details including my wifes ID number. The lady taking the ID was terribly confused with the ID Number and the Bonitas phone line was very poor. They advised that I would receive an email. Just after the phone call to Bonitas the surgeons surgery phoned to state that her operation had been rescheduled to the 16/4 ( Tuesday). I immediately phoned Bonitas to advise them of the new admittance date, However Bonitas only work until 16:00 and before I could complete the phone call the line was cut off. All phones at Bonitas are automatically cut of at 16:00 every day no matter if you are on the phone or not. I must add that my wife has a terrible fear of cancer having lost our daughter at the age of 38 , her father and two brothers and her one sister having a breast removed. The After gynecologist advised that only her sister having breast cancer was really relevant but the above is to show how stressed my wife was. On Saturday morning I received the email which I could not open the attachment because Bonitas had quoted the wrong ID number. Over the weekend I sent a total of 7 emails to every Bonitas website advising I could not open their attachment, I phoned Bonitas at 08:00 on the 15/4 to find that they start work at 09:00. Eventually I spoke to Bonitas and they advised that I required a motivation from the specialist and the scan. I explained that my wife was being admitted the next day and was basically told that those were the rules. I phoned the specialist rooms and they immediately set about the letter and scan which was sent to Bonitas. I scheduled my wifes premed for 15/4( she was to be admitted to hospital at O6.00 the next day. Whilst my wife was having the premed I explained the problem to the Pre - Admission person (Yulada), at Hilton Life advising of the problem and advising that if required I would pay for the operation using my credit card. She was absolutely fantastic an got hold of Bonitas immediately and explained the problem. They advised that they had received the letter and scan from the specialist and would get back to her within two hours. Needless to say they did not and it took several more phone calls before authorization was given. During the same day my wife was supposed to have Lymph System setting. This was not approved in time and when the authorization finally sent it was sent using my ID number and stating that I was the the patient. To avoid having to delay the whole operation the specialist had to use some other method to do the Lymph System Imaging. I cant understand how Bonitas can approve my wife for the operation then send an authorization for the imaging. Does this show an effective, organised medical aid or a totally uncaring, unsympathetic medical aid who are totally useless. Unfortunatly I am retired and my previous employer pays for most of my premiums. If not I would have left Bonitas years ago. At the hospital the operation seemed to go very well but more tests are awaited after further biopsy's.