1 reviews | Active since Jan 2016
Inhumane attitude towards critically elderly member
I am completely disgusted and disheartened by the treatment that I am currently receiving from GEMS medical aid. I have done an Ex Gratia application last week Friday for my mother to be transferred by air ambulance from a hospital in Kimberly to a hospital here in Cape Town where she resides. GEMS only wants to authorise a transfer to a hospital in Bloemfontein. My mother is 70 years old, she was visiting in Kimberly when she was admitted for an emergency gallbladder surgery which the doctor discovered was gangerous on 30 August 2017. The doctor then did further testing on my mother and she was diagnosed with colo****** cancer which has spread to her liver and lungs. She had to endure another surgery to have fluid and a blood clot removed from her liver. I have been begging and pleading with GEMS to please authorise her medical transfer to a hospital in Cape Town for further treatment. It is inhumane to send her to a hospital in Bloemfontein where she has nobody there to support her and comfort her during this extremely challenging time in her life. I have no idea how much time I still have left to spend with my mom. If I could have afforded it I would have paid for an air ambulance but I don't. Everyday when I enquire about the progress of the application I get told that the committee may have an answer for me tomorrow. At this stage I don't even know if there will be a tomorrow for my mom. I have requested that Dr Gunni Goolab please make contact with me to speak to him about my situation and all I get in return is a call centre agent calling back. I am on the Emerald option and according to my knowledge there shouldn't be a problem to have her transferred to Cape Town to a hospital for treatment. I am extremely saddened by the heartlessness of the authorisations committee. I want to thank Vusi Mabaso and his team for assisting me everyday with my plight with contacting the Ex Gratio department and trying to get my application authorised.
