Finally, the Eastern Cape Department of Health has intervened and changed the unpleasant situation that patients at Mt Ayliff Hospital have been facing for weeks. This follows after patients complained of negligence at the hospital stating that when there’s load-shedding they don’t get the medical attention that they seek.
Allegedly, Patients had to be transported to nearby hospitals when there was an emergency during load-shedding.
A patient that was rushed to Mt Ayliff hospital says she was told to wait until power returns by a nurse upon her arrival. The patient says nurses couldn’t even open a file for her medical history as the whole hospital was dark.” My son was in so much pain that time, no one was willing to assist. If I had money to go somewhere else, I could have left”, she says.
A nurse that asked to be kept anonymous says this problem has been going on for months and the management has been made aware of it. She says it is very hard for them to work under these circumstances as some machines need electricity to operate.
The Department of Health spokesperson Mkhululi Ndamase says after receiving complaints the department officials acted promptly to resolve the problem, as they rely on National Treasury which is responsible to contract companies that will supply diesel to hospitals.
