Medical Negligence at Life Midmed Casualty

I was injured at work on 13 May 2019 and went to Life Midmed in Middelburg on 14 May 2019 where I was attended to by a Dr Walsh for a back injury,He sent me for an MRI then told me that the systems are down and they are unable to get the results.I should return the next day, and gave me an injection for pain and sent me home to drive back to Kempton Park.By the time I had reached home the pain had intensified.When I reported to the hospital the next day Dr Walsh informed me that I have a herniated disc but will not need surgery as I need to see a neurosurgeon and have some physio.I did inform him that the pain is worse today.I was given another injection and had to find a neurosurgeon that took WCA patients myself , he did not bother to actually listen to me but gave me a letter to see Dr.Adedipe at Arwyp Hospital in Kempton Park.He did not at anytime mention to me that I need to be hospitalised or be off from work as I told him I needed to attend a meeting at work. Again I mentioned that I drive to and from Kempton Park to Middelburg daily.I was only able to get an appointment with Dr Adedipe the following Friday.On 16 May the pain became progressively worse so I called in at work and told them I was not able to come in due to the pain in my back.Then decided to go see my GP to give me something for pain,the moment he looked at the MRI and the results,he immediately asked me why was I not hospitalised as I needed to be in hospital and be treated by a neurosurgeon and physiothe******.He told me that it is a WCA case and I should get hold of the treating doctor to make further arrangements.I contacted Life Midmed and informed them of my problems and also sent them an email detailing my issues.On the Saturday they told me that they will esacalate this to the higher authorities as Dr Walsh was not available,they also asked me to come in to the casualty again,but told them that it is a long arduous trip for me to take to come to Middelburg.On the Monday I was called by a Dr Albert's who asked me to come to casualty as he had received my email.I informed them that I will get my wife to drive me there.When I arrived at the casualty I saw Dr Walsh who clearly seemed to be annoyed due to the email I sent to his superiors and also informed him that the pain was now worse and my legs were starting to lose feeling."You will get a reply to your email shortly" is what he told me and left.I was attended to by Dr Danie Du Plessis at casualty who took the neurosurgeons number from us and immediately called him to discuss my condition with him.I was given injections to relieve the pain and after he had spoken to Dr Adedipe informed us that we need to go directly to Arwyp and be admitted to hospital under the care of Dr Adedipe in ward 10.I was given a letter to take to admissions at Arwyp.One admitted Dr Adedipe and his team assessed me and proceeded with treatment as he also did not want to do surgery if it was avoidable.After 5 days of treatment there was no improvement and the pain became worse with severe pains down by left and right leg.There was no bowel movement and although I was able to pass urine I was not aware that my bladder was not being emptied fully.Dr Adedipe then asked the urologist to check and I was sent for another MRI and a sonar of my bladder and also had more bloods drawn.When the results arrived Dr Adedipe call my wife to the hospital do discuss their findings and confirmed that I had developed Cauda Equina Syndrome and had to have surgery immediately as this is a medical emergency and left untreated can lead to serious infections and sometime death.I was operated on the Sunday 26 May 2019 to relieve the pressure on my nerves and also replace the herniated disc as well as fused L5 to S1 vertebrae. Till date I am still off work,WCA have not paid me till now and I only started receiving 75% of my pensionable salary from Alexander Forbes in December 2019. I am unable to sleep properly or do anything easily and the nerve pain sometimes is unbearable.Treatment is ongoing and have seen two Occupational the******s who have not cleared me for work as yet.Due to the negligence of Dr Walsh at Life Midmed my entire life has been changed and I do not know if I will ever be able to work again or do the normal things I used to do.This is totally unacceptable from a healthcare provider.Till date no person from Life Healthcare has contacted me to find out how am I doing or what has happened.As far as I am concerned it was due to their negligence and no due diligence that I continue to suffer today.Had they taken immediate steps to prevent further damage maybe I would not have caused further damage to my nerves leading to my condition.As can be noted Dr Walsh only booked me off for the day I needed to come back for the MRI results and as per the first medical report I was to return to normal duty the next day.This for me is negligence of duty as a medical professional