Netcare Hospital Pretoria East

Netcare Hospital Pretoria East I was admitted at approximately 05:25 on the 15th of February 2021. The admittance staff & staff in ward 10c, where I was to get ready for theatre & have all my stuff put into save keeping, were all genuinely nice. The theatre staff all introduced themselves & were also very friendly. After my 3-hour operation on my neck I went to the high care unit, where again the staff were very helpful and friendly. There was 1 incident on 16th where voices were raised so loud I shouted at them to keep quite. When I asked what it was all about the nurse blamed an undertaker, but I am not sure what an undertaker was doing in the high care unit, shouting at the top of his voice. I was taken out of high care, to a normal ward at about 16:00, with 4 beds, 3 cancer patients & myself. I asked about pain medication & was told I could have anytime from 18:00. I started asking for pain medication from 18:00 & was eventually given it at around 21:30. When the food arrived, sometime in the evening, I was still heavily sedated, on a drip, linked to a vital organs monitor & had a catheter inserted, so not sure what time it arrived, the plastic knife was “microwaved” to the plastic that all the eating utensils come in. When I showed this to the nurse who collected the food dishes, she did not say a word & just took everything away. They had also delivered a nice jug of cold water at some stage, but without anything to drink it out of. When I asked for a glass the water was just taken away. When I enquired the next morning about getting some water, I was supp**** with bottled water. Dr Burger came to see me at around 07:30 the morning of the 18th & gave instructions for the nursing staff to take off the drip, the neck drainage, the catheter, & to give me a valium. The drip, catheter, & neck drain were taken off at about 10:30. I eventually got the valium at 17:00. During my entire stay, the other people in the ward certainly didn't appear to have the same recovery that I needed. They were loud, with ringtones & message alerts which gave me a fright each time they went off, speaking on their cell phones until after 23:00. I eventually told 1 of the guys myself to please turn down his alerts & to speak softer. 1 of the guys even had a electronic cigarette. The food in the general ward was almost unedible & very often any waste, plastic papers, coffee cups, syringes that were used for pain medication, etc. just stood next to my bed. I had to ask 3 different people, to try & get my stuff from security. The final straw was when I was leaving the hospital, & what urged me to send this complaint. When collecting the medication, the doctor had prescribed for me to take home that morning, I noticed there was no pain medication. I remember the doctor saying I needed valium suppositories & a schedule 6 pain syrup. I asked the pharmacist & he said there was nothing in the script. I asked him if he would please phone the ward as I had a 45 -60 minute drive home & did not want to drive all the way back. He said the people in the ward had said I must just wait with the porter & they would let me know. A nurse then arrives with the schedule 6 syrup, say sorry we forgot, & walks away. This is a hospital which has won many service awards, but I would say, stay away at all costs, a very bad experience.