Mary - ****** at Mahatma Gandhi Memorial Hospital

My wife, Mary Shunmugam, aged 52, walked into MGMH on the morning of 19th of November 2020 requesting a drip. Nobody was not allowed to accompany her into the emergency ward due to Covid 19 restrictions. She was admitted for a drip. The same afternoon her toiletries and cellphone was handed to her via hospital security. From then onward, we family lost all personal contact with her. I called the ward on the evening of that Thursday, the 19th to enquire on my her condition and was informed by the nurse that the patient was doing ok and on a drip. I received a SMS on my phone that evening of Thursday the 19th from a lab, (+***5 30671) informing me that there was a Covid test was done on my wife and that she had tested negative. I made 3 calls on Friday the 20th, in the morning, lunch time and the evening and was informed that my wife was " still asleep". In the evening after being informed that she was asleep, I asked to speak to the doctor and was told that I should call on Monday the 23rd of Nov 2020 to speak to the doctor. I received another SMS on my phone that evening of Saturday the 21st from the same lab.The actual SMS was similar if not identical to the initial message. I made 3 calls, each day on Saturday and Sunday in the morning, lunch time and in the evening and was informed that the patient was “still asleep”. I called on Monday morning to speak to the doctor and was informed by him, who was an Indian male that she was critical with sepsis of the lungs. I was a bit confused and asked to see her and was told by him that I could only see her on the morning of Tuesday the 24th due to her currently receiving treatment. I went in to see my wife on the morning of Tuesday, the 24th around 9 am. She was still in ward 9 and on a respirator. I thought it rather strange as I was told that she was critical but had no monitor for her heart beat or any drip for medication. I was informed by the Indian male doctor that I spoke to that my wife had developed sepsis of the lungs and was not responding to a series of antibiotics that they had tried. He also stated that her condition did not looked good and she was in a critical condition. I also noticed that she had a huge open wound on her forehead above her left eye. I asked the doctor what had happened to her head and he stated he could not say as the patient had the wound on Monday morning when he took over but that he checked in her file and it indicated that she did not have any wounds or marks on her at the time of admission. When I touched her forehead, it felt ice cold which I felt was not normal. I actually thought that my wife was dead at that time and the respirator was just moving her chest up and down. I did not feel comfortable in asking the doctor any questions about that, due to his “too busy attitude”. I also saw that she had sensors stuck on both sides of her head and on her chest. I then called the doctor back and asked him what was that for and he stated that there was a possibility that she was going for a brain scan later on in the day. I asked him why. He stated that it was part of the treatment. I then asked him if it was possible for my 2 adult children to see her. He stated that they could come in on Wednesday the 25th as the patient would not be available for the rest of the day due to testing and treatment that was going to be done. He then stated that I should call on the next day to see if the patient was available for a visit before I come. I called again on the evening of Tuesday the 24th to enquire on my wife’s condition and was informed by Ward 9 staff that she was moved to Ward 2 and that she was asleep. I felt it strange that the nurse from ward 9 actually knew that my wife was asleep in a different ward. On the morning of the 25th, when I called at 08h20 to Ward 2 and I was informed that my wife had passed away at 08h00 on that morning. I rushed over to the hospital and arrived at ward 9 at 08h45 and was informed that my wife’s body was at the mortuary. At the mortuary I identified my wife’s body in the cold room. The mortuary attendent informed me that the doctor at ward 9 refused to sign the death certificate and wished to talk to me. I went over to ward 9 and spoke to a Dr Bux. She stated that she was from internal medicine and had taken over the treatment of my wife from family medicine. She also informed me that she could not sign the death certificate as she only took over the treatment on Monday, the 23rd and the patient’s condition was already critical when she took over. I asked about the open wound on my wife’s forehead and she stated that she could not comment as the patient had the wounds when she took over. She then consulted the patients file in front of me and stated that there was no mention of the wound on her file. She also confirmed that as per her file, the patient was lucid and without any scars or marks at the time of admission. Due to any doctor refusing to sign the death certificate, I then informed the doctor that I will have a post mortem done on my wife. On Friday i was informed that as per findings, that my wife had died of a brain haemorrhage due to multiple skull fracture.

On the morning of Monday the 30th of November 2020, I received a visit at home from a dectective from SAPS Phoenix, who informed me that he would be investigating the unnatural death of my wife. He also informed me that he will be approaching the MGMH to request her file to try and find out how my wife received the wound on her head which according to the post mortem is what caused her death. After he left on Monday, the 30th of November 2020, I made a call to the PRO of the MGMH and her extension was unanswered. I then sent an email request to the PRO of MGMH to find out the cause of death of my wife and was informed via an email 2 days later that it would take 14 working days as per the hospital policy. After the 14 days had expired, I waited for a few days and called the PRO again the week before Christmas and was informed that the investigation was not completed and that she will call me back later that day. I received no call from her.

After a week, I then referred the matter to the office of the Provincial Minister of Health. The person there, stated that he will forward my request to the hospital. After 2 weeks, I called him again and he sounded shocked that the hospital had not called me regarding feedback. He stated that he will then refer the matter to the minister who will chase up the matter with the hospital. After about a week, I got a call from a female who stated that her name was Doctor Cassim from MGMH and that she was instructed to give me feedback regarding my wife’s cause of death. She was going down the road of explaining sepsis of the lungs and I asked about the wound on her forehead. She stated that she could not comment on that as there was no entry in the patient’s file. She also confirmed that as per the file, the patient did not have the wound in question at the time of admission. I informed her that as per feedback I had received that my wife had died due to a brain haemorrhage caused by a multiple skull fracture. She sounded shocked and said that she was not aware of this. She then informed me that she will look at the Ward 9 Log File and get back to me. She stated that the log file will contain entries by ward nurses regarding occurrences in the ward. I have not heard from her since. I got a call from the PRO of the hospital (Ms Thomas) the day after this doctor called and was told that there will be a meeting with hospital management on the week from 15th-19th of February 2021 to inform me officially of the cause of death. I asked for this to be communicated to me in writing. I have not heard from her since.

At the end of February, I referred the matter to the Ombudsman for Health Services. I received a call from a female at the Gandhi Hospital on the 1st of March 2021, who stated that she was the new PRO of the establishment and that she was instructed to invite me for a feedback meeting with hospital management. This meeting was held on the 3rd of March 2021, a little more than 3 months after my wife’s ****** to give a report on how her life was taken and was chaired by Mr Mapamulo who stated that he was the CEO of the hospital. Also present was the PRO and 3 other senior nursing staff and Dr Cassim who I had spoken to earlier. The only persons that contributed to the meeting was the CEO and Dr Cassim who did most of the talking (about 95%). in my opinion, she is a disgrace to all females in being the chief excuse agent for the hospital. She reported verbally, contrary to the state post mortem results requested by me that my wife died of sepsis of the lungs. Dr Cassim cannot say how she contacted this while in the hospitals care as her file is blank in this regard and does not indicate anything, but that she did not respond to antibiotics administered and it killed her. When confronted with the state's post mortem results that she died of a brain haemorrhage due to multiple skull fracture, Dr Cassim once again disagrees with this result but goes on record to state that they don't know how the patient's skull got fractured while in their care as her file does not say so. Dr Cassim also believes that my wife's fractured skull is not what caused her death. They, however say that they are sorry for the family's loss. The CEO also requested from me at this meeting as to what I want. I stated that I wanted the persons responsible for my wife’s ****** to be held accountable and not allowed to practice medicine as a doctor or a nurse in South Africa. The opinion of myself and my family still stands that this hospital is a downright disgrace to the medical fraternity worldwide and that the Minister of Health and management of this hospital must fill in the blanks in my wifes's file and hold those accountable for her ****** and bring them to justice. For far too long Dr Cassim and her colleagues at the Mahatma Gandhi Memorial Hospitale have been getting away with ******. It needs to stop now. She needs to be held accountable for ****** and not hide behind managements excuses