Netcare is the worst medical care provider

I am highly frustrated with Netcare Unitas Hospital. Please do not take your loved ones there.

My mother was admitted into the hospital July 2023 after a spinal injury. We took her to Olivedale Netcare and we were told that she needs to be at her network branch so we were told we need to take her to Unitas. We arrived at the hospital and she was seen in the emergency by the attending doctors. The receptionist told us that the emergency fees will be at our cost, which we agreed and signed accordingly. The doctors recommended that she needs to be admitted as her spinal disk had shifted and she needs the surgery. She is on a medical aid and we were told that the medical aid will cover the cost. No other communication was given to us regarding the admission or/and authorisation. Dr Azah was her attending doctor as we were told. I went to his office to speak to him about progress and he told us that he is awaiting surgery authorisation from the medical aid.

After 2 weeks, the medical aid had still not given authorisation because of the plan she was on. We were in this period very frustrated with the hospital and the medical aid as we had no clue what was going on while she laid in hospital. We had to keep calling both to get an update. After the 2 weeks, we decided that she needs to be discharged as there was not progress.

6 months later, my mother started receiving threatening letters from the accounts department from Netcare Unitas Hospital demanding a payment of R56000 for her hospital stay. When she enquired, she was told that the medical aid authorisation was pending as she was in hospital. The medical aid and the doctor and the hospital were all in communication and not once were we told that the medical aid has not approved her stay.

The hospital has issued out summonds to my mother who is in her 60's and on pension. And have also attached my name and ID on the summonds because my information was on the emergency treatment bill (which I did acknowledge to pay as I understand the rules there).

Dr Azah has also sent my mother his own separate bill for his treatment. So all in all, this is amounting to R100 000 with radiology included.

I want to know why would a hospital keep a patient for 2 weeks without authorisation and why were we never informed about this. I am forwarding my case to the HPCSA for intervention on this case.

Please be carefull when dealing with Netcare. They do not care about patient wellfare.