Lack of respect and zero customer care- elderly reduced to tears by treating Doctor @ Steve Biko hospital

Good day

COMPLAINT Ref Sarah Vhashumani Ramuada - ID *** - Incident date 11/9/ 22

I write this complaint with hurt and a responsibility to make sure other families do not experience what we experienced @ Steve Biko hospital. It is very concerning that the culprit is the very person we are supposed to run to when we have ill health. In our case, my mother Mrs Sarah Ramuada came to Steve Biko on 11 September 2022 very early in the morning. As siblings, by the time we came to Steve Biko, we had watched our mother deteriorating to a point of complete immobility - getting in and out of hospital in agony due to septic athritis, hypertension etc.

After being in and out of hospital in Venda with no tangible progress - we were advised to take her to Steve Biko by family friends, citing that they were previously helped at the hospital when their mother lost mobility with athritis and no cartilage left etc It is not viable and financially practical to travel weekly for hours and the costs involved are exhubent. All siblings had to travel from Gauteng Pretoria, Vaal, Kemptonpark, centurion. Whe we saw and heard our mother groaning with excruciating pain and reduced to not being able to feed / bath/ take herself to the bathroom, it was clear that we needed to take her to a hospital near where me and my siblings live / work.

We had to appoint someone to take care of my father who is blind and has alzheimer - as we witnessed my mom falling one day after another from trying to bath my father etc with her struggling to walk. As such, when we heard that Steve Biko can asisst with cases of severe septic athritis medical procedure where there is no cartilage left to support the bones, the treating Doctor @Venda advised an agreed to write a transfer letter as my mom's health was deteriorating and the homelands hospital not equipped with such services. She used to be able to take care of herself though using a stick for balance. My mom was for a long time insisting that no one bath / help my father to the bathroom but herself..hence the many times she fell making her athritis worse.

In short, we waited for a window and clearance by Doctor to ensure that we are able to drive back with her to the reccomend hospital i.e Steve Biko as I stay in Pretoria and my brother lives in Centurion.

In those circumstances, my brother and my mom's younger sister drove to Steve Biko on 11 September 2022 hoping that she will be admitted on arrival as we saw her drained and still experiencing agonizing pain. An ambulance from Venda was not an option as we had to pay over R15 000.

On arrival, my mother was assisted by the staff to get out of the car and we are thankful for that as we wouldn't have managed to take her out of the car.

The problem started with the receiving/treating Doctor- she lacked empathy and downright said athritis is not an emergency. She continued to speak rudely to my brother in the presence of my mom groaning in pain. Thereafter she left the room after the verbal attacks - with no clear conclusion to the matter or way forward.

At this stage nurse who witnessed this acted in kindness and opened a file. My mom's bed was put in the passage, whilst she groaned in pain. By the time I also arrived, we had to go all over the hospital looking for my mom. After finding her at the xray side, my mother was telling me and her younger sister that she asked the passing nurses to be asissted with her bathroom needs as she is immobile- and everyone kept on saying they are coming - to no avail.

By the grace of God the xray ladies allowed us to see mom briefly. At this stage, we had to request a nurse at the xray department to give us an empty room so that we can change my mother's nappy, my mom's sister had to do this by herself.

My mother was still crying as we left the room with her bed blocking the toilet door. I asked about the bed blocking the way to the bathroom and this was met with us being dismissed as visiting time was up.We basically left her knowing that she is by herself, that the admitting Doctor has no people skills, is not willing to listen/ advice on best way forward but very spiteful and cruel. We were worried, shocked and disappointed at the lack of empathy and the unnecessary verbal abuse in the presence of a desparate patient.

To prove a point, the same Doctor came back late in the evening and with the same attitude and rowdiness, she scolded the admitting nurses,saying that she is tired of people from Limpopo coming to Steve Biko. And that she can't wait to see the nurses faces when they see that she discharged my mother. Again this was said as my mother listened and her helplessness knowing it's too late to be discharged/ fetched from hospital. By the time my brother fetched her, she couldn't stop crying wondering what Doctor treats people like this.

She went on to discharged my mother and a few others the same evening with no concern for who will fetch her so late.Our crime here is that we as siblings are not able to drive every week to Venda. It is financially draining, impractical and elevates the stress of not being able to tend to our elderly ailing mother.

We came to Steve Biko expecting expert advise and much needed emergency health care for my mom. But what was supposed to be a place of healing turned into a nightmare that my mother still reflects with tears in her eyes even today. If there was something the Doctor needed to communicate with us, it had to be done professionally and with empathy and patience. All that was lost as she treated my mom and brother with disregard and even walked away as they were still asking questions. My brother and my mom are not ones to cry. This now leaves me with no choice but to report this matter/ behavior as a matter of urgency. I can quickly be vindictive as the Doctor and mobilize this matter on all social and media platforms.

I am writing this to ensure that no family has to go through what we went through. I believe a vindictive Doctor without empathy for their patients is not a good Doctor and this must be addressed and reported. Unfortunately we don't remember her name, but we saw her driving out as we waited outside for the visiting time ( see picture attached)*All we have is her car number plate, I am sure her name is on my mother's file for that day/ you will know who was on the shift.