Hospital negligence.

To the hospital director/manager of Netcare Montana hospital.

I am writing this letter to lay a complaint about basically everything that we have experienced at your hospital on 11 June 2020.

A formal complaint shall be laid at the hospital itself and to SAMA , and will be taken further if no form of feedback is received from Netcare Montana hospital.

In the meantime I would like to inform the public about our experience, since I feel I can spare a lot of people from having to sit in the same sinking boat, thus I am posting this to inform the public about your bad service and negligence.

First of all, we arrived at the emergency unit at approximately 17h00. We took a friend to Netcare Montana hospital after she accidentally cut her hand open with a scissor.

Apon arrival the patient was told to wait outside, blood running from her hand and dripping on the floor. No nurse or any other person from the hospital even bothered to even look at the wound before telling the patient to wait outside.

There we waited outside for a fair amount of time before being assisted by hospital staff.

Due to the fact that the patient has no medical aid, we were paying everything cash.

We were not allowed inside the emergency unit to be with the patient (understanding Covid-19 regulations we sat outside awaiting any feedback or updates from the staff, which I just want to mention, never happened)

We sat outside in the cold for approximately four hours, no feedback, no updates, nothing. The main concern was also the fact that no body could keep us up-to-date about what care/ service the nurses or staff are giving to the patient and any cost related thereof.

I was personally refused to use the bathroom inside the hospital after sitting in the cold for 4 hours, even if screened, I was told that I may not enter the hospital to use the bathroom and no alternatives were suggested/ provided.

Secondly, after asking the staff for any updates about the patient, they did not know where or who the patient was. They had no idea what was going on, and this not only for us, but all bystanders waiting for any updates about their friends/family members inside the ER.

Thirdly, the staff were rude and sarcastic apon any questions or requests made. They seemed to be very unorganized and all over the place but still not having any idea what is going on with their patients. There was no organized procedures or way of working.

Fourthly, the "screening" questionnaire I was supposed to fill in was in actual fact filled in by the staff at the main entrance (They answered the questions themselves on the tablet which is used for screening purposes) , here I thought I had to fill it in since it is MY questionnaire?

Five, after paying the amount of approximately R1200 , and discharging the patient (It was our choice to do so) in order to go to another facility because of all of the above mentioned, they did not clean the wound, they did not put on new bandages nor any stitches.

I am flabbergasted. Honestly, I expected better from a private hospital.

Yours sincerely, a concerned individual.

(Pictures attached is how the patient walked out of the ER four hours after admission. )