Refund process requires critical intervention

This should have been a 5 star review but due to the inefficient way my refund has been processed, it’s fallen to 2 stars. The staff at St George’s hospital and the finance/admin staff I’ve interacted with have been next-level amazing. Sadly the way the group handles patient refunds has been very disappointing. As a “cash patient” I had to pay a considerable deposit upfront - this covered inflated potential and estimated costs such as one night in ICU (unlikely for the minor procedure I was having) and one night in a general ward. No problem.

I was discharged the same day and the lovely ladies at admissions/reception explained the process to claim any refund that was due to me. - after approximately 7 days, contact accounts department and request a final account (I bet if I owed them money they’d very quickly contact me to request payment) - if there is a credit due, complete the “Refund Request” form and submit it with accompanying documentation such as proof of bank account and ID document etc. - refunds will take 7-10 days to be processed if all paperwork is in order.

31 July - I submitted the paperwork for the refund request. I requested that they confirm receipt of my email.

6 August - I called to follow up. Time of call 16:12. Automated recording saying I had called out of hours as they close at 16:30.

8th August - I called again to follow up. An absolutely delightful and efficient lady called Maralise assisted me. She said my refund had been processed and submitted to the Finance Manager for authorisation on the 5th of August. She would follow up and see why it hasn’t been signed off. Maralise went out of her way to assist me and everything she said she was going to do, she did. She continually updated me but ultimately the final authorisation was out of her hands.

13 August - I contacted the Finance and Admin Manager who apologised profusely for the delay and advised that he could only authorise amounts up to R20,000 so the Regional Manager would need to authorise it as the amount due to me was R44k He assured me that he would get the RM to sign off that day. At midday I received an email from the RM, who also apologised and assured me he would investigate why it had taken so long to process my refund. He advised that he had approved the refund and he asked the Finance and Admin guy to confirm when the payment would be made to me. There was no response from the Finance guy.

14 August at 09:20 I requested a proof of payment to confirm that the transfer had been done.

Guess what? 24 hours after the RM had authorised the request, I have still not heard anything and the funds are still not in my account.

Firstly - why should a patient have to go through this laborious admin process to obtain a refund on monies owing to them? Surely once a final account has been raised, it would be a simple process to refund the patient to the same account they paid from? Secondly - assuming this archaic process is the only option, please advise how and why it can take so long and why the patient needs to spend time and energy following up. Finally and more food for thought, than an actual question - would be interesting to know what revenue Life Healthcare generates from holding onto patients funds for undefined periods? I am one patient who has been due a credit refund of R44k since I was discharged on 24 June.

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