Shame on You - NetCare Umhlanga Hospital!

It actually breaks my heart to do this review and I have delayed it for a long time, but I think that this review is necessary to improve services at the Netcare Umhlanga Hospital.

My brother contracted COVID19 around Christmas last year (2020). He started showing symptoms in early January and got really bad between 6-10 January 2021. On Friday the 8th of January 2021, he was struggling to breathe, his temperature had soared to 38.4 degrees, his oxygen saturation was not going above 86%, even with oxygen been administered to him. At that time, none of the meds I had obtained for him seemed to be working.

I rushed him to Umhlanga hospital, left him in the car and went to the woman who seemed to be in charge of triage. This was in the undercover parking area where the ambulances come in. All I wanted to establish was what the process was and where I needed to start. I indicated that my brother was COVID19 positive. I did not want my brother coming into contact with others for fear that he may infect somebody else.

Its a pity that I never got a name, but she was rude and unprofessional, even shouting at the paramedics who had brought in extremely sick covid19 patients. I eventually got a chance to speak to her and she asked me to go sit in the car and wait until she called me. She did not take my name down or my contact details. When I enquired as to how she would know when it was my turn as I realised that she had not even seen to the patients in the ambulance, she then indicated that I should go sit in the car and come back in 20 minutes. Again, I asked her what the process was as my brother was struggling to breathe, she got overwhelmed with the paramedics and me and stated "I just can't do this right now".

At that point and feeling helpless, I rushed back to my car to check how my brother was doing. As I was walking back, one of the paramedics happened to be walking in that direction. I stopped him, asked if I could get some advice from him on what to do next. I was not going to let my brother die in the carpark of the hospital, with help just a few steps away.

The paramedic actually made me realise that if I just sat there and waited, my brother probably would die. I say this, because this paramedic pointed to his ambulance and indicated that his patient, a young woman with COVID19, who was lying flat on the stretcher unable to even help herself up, was waiting in the ambulance for 3 hours and nobody had seen to her.

This actually prompted me to look for an alternate hospital, which I did do, got wonderful service with a clear indication of what needs to happen, where to go and what to do before my brother could receive treatment. They were sensitive and caring and that night I was able to take my brother home after being treated. He is recovering now, but still struggles with an irritating cough, but that we can deal with. He is ALIVE.

I understand fully that hospitals in our country right now are absolutely inundated. Healthcare workers are under a huge amount of stress, are overworked and themselves falling prey to this virus. But the behaviour of the woman at Umhlanga was unbelievable. I am asking Umhlanga Hospital to please improve your services. Teach your teams to be more organised and teach them how to handle the pressure. This virus is like nothing we've seen before but how is it that two different hospitals (not far from each other), both inundated with patients, but totally different in terms of the execution of their duties. I was very disappointed with Umhlanga, and I wonder how many people like me, who had no other option, sat in the parking lot and lost loved ones in the process.

This is not what we want from our healthcare facilities, especially one as highly publicised as the Umhlanga Hospital. After this experience, I talked to a few of my colleagues and friends and they had indicated that if I had called them, they would have advised me not to go this hospital because the service is pathetic and that they had nightmarish stories to tell.

How is it then, that this can be allowed to continue. Can we place our trust that this hospital has the patients wellfare at heart? I have utmost faith in the healthcare system in this country but this behaviour is unbecoming. Correct it, please, because we need you!!!