Its such a crime to not have medical aid in south africa. Private hospitals dont assist patients who cant pay their huge medical fees

I have gathered the courage today to put this experience on hello-peter after 1 year. I feel that people need to hear and learn from my traumatic experience.

My mother was sick with symptoms of the flu on Friday morning (19/07/2019), she went very sick and was struggling to breathe. My mum was a regular patient of R.K Khans hospital and Albert Luthuli, however, we rushed her to Mount edgecombe as we didn’t want to risk her life taking her all the way to Chatsworth from Phoenix. Thinking it was the flu, we brought her to the out patient ward at 07.30am, where I was charged R1300.00 for doctors’ fees and treatment – this was paid immediately.

VISIT NUMBER: ***

My mum was then examined and I was told that she would require blood tests and x rays that needed to be done. Payments was then done to Lancet for R500 and I had to make payment arrangements with them for the balance. The x-ray department – a payment was done for R820.00.

I was then told that my mum was in a very critical condition and that her whole left side had renal failure (her lungs, kidneys, heart was failing) My mum stayed in mount edgecombe the entire day where the doctor and nurses only tried to stabilise her condition, but couldn’t admit her to treat her for her problem as I didn’t have so much money to pay cash (They wanted R100 000 only as deposit for 3 days admission in ICU).

We then waited right until 15.30pm that afternoon, and time was wasted whilst someone from mount edgecombe was trying to check with other hospitals to see if my mum could be transferred there for treatment. Ghandhi’s hospital didn’t want to accept her as they don’t have an ICU facility. RK Khans refused to take her for some unknown reason. And Albert luthuli also refused her case The nurse then told us that Doc Maharaj was going to have a management meeting with the staff of mount edgecombe to see if they could accept my mums case, and we pay them later on or if costs could be waivered, but that also didn’t happen

At 15.30pm, we were told that Albert luthuli had decided to accept my mum’s case and she was very critical, so we had to move her over in an advanced ambulance that has the life system machine. Without thinking twice, I agreed to pay R4000.00 cash, just to have my mother moved from Mount edgcombe hospital to Albert luthuli. My mother was getting prepped from 15:45pm right till 17:30pm, and that’s the time only the ambulance left mount edgecombe hospital. I had to step out for a while, so I left my sister-in -law behind and asked her to sit in the ambulance with my mother. My sister-in-law confirmed that my mother was knocked out when they left for Albert luthuli, and the paramedics didn’t let her sit with my mother, instead, they made her sit in the front

My sister-in-law kept on asking from the front if my mother was okay, and someone from the back kept on saying she was fine and that she was talking to them asking if her daughter came in the ambulance and that she asked for water. But my mother had pipes going down all the way to her lungs, which supposed to have helped her to breathe, so how was she talking ???. She wouldn’t have been able to?

Then they reached Albert luthuli and my mum was still out, and when my sister-in-law jumped off, she saw my mothers hand dangling out of the bed, and she asked the paramedic why her hand was like that, then he quickly put my mothers hand right on the bed. They then rushed her into ICU in Albert luthuli in 2B , whereby our family met and were waiting outside ICU for them to put my mother onto the bed and for them to do what they had to,

Between 18:20pm to 18:30pm, a nurse came to call us inside the ICU, and told us we must wash our hands and use apron to go and have a look at her. She said that my mother is very bad and they don’t think she will make it. Upon us walking to the bed with the nurse, the curtains were drawn, she chatted with the doctors and the paramedics were still there. She came and told us same time, and changed her story that they were trying to move my mum from the stretcher to the hospital bed and she was so critical , that she never made it. She has passed on. She said they tried resusistating her by massaging her, but she never made it. She also mentioned that maybe because Mount edgecombe gave her too much meds during the day, she couldn’t take it.

I was shocked and questioned her howcome did all this happen, I mean you just called me now saying we must come and see her , and so fast you’re changing the story. She then said no all this happened whilst she came to call us from outside of ICU But that still never made sense.

With the shock of loosing my mum, the paramedic was more worried about calling my husband outside to take the R4000 payment, rather than waiting for us alittle while atleast to digest the fact that shes gone.

After me experiencing such a traumatic day and loosing my mum, I then got hit with a bill of R10 216.00 by Mount edgecombe, after one week of her death

I didn’t have my mum on medical aid, because I couldn’t afford it, but I never took her to mount edgecombe on purpose. I took her there thinking it was just the flu and that the hospital will see to her in outpatient and let her go. Little did I know , that it’s such a crime to not have medical aid and to bring a patient privately to a private hospital.

I am grateful that they kept her and stabilised her, but maybe in those 8 hours, If she was admitted and treated for her problem, then she could’ve survived. Doctors and hosptials vow to help patients to the best that they can, but here I had to sit and wait helplessly for my mum to get help and then lost her the same night. It’s something to think about, how and when did my mum really die, was she already dead in mount edgecombe, in the ambulance, or did she really pass on due to the movement from the stretcher to the bed at Albert luthuli???

I app**** for leniency with the hospital , but they refused to waiver the charges in full and brought the charges down to R3600.

I had paid R1200 in total in 2019. And then stopped at the beginning of this year after being affected by the corona virus pandemic.

My mother was not treated with care, and I think that higher management in Mount edgecombe should take into consideration about everything that I had been through and they need to waiver the balance of R2400.00

Please can someone call me on *** to have this problem resolved.