A Mitchells Plain family wants answers after their pensioner dad, who suffers from cancer and had had a stroke, was allegedly mistreated at a state hospital.
The Lentegeur family say they have been through hell at Mitchells Plain District Hospital after the 65-year-old grandfather’s nappy wasn’t changed for hours and he fell out of his hospital bed when he tried to go to the toilet by himself.
The family have now lodged a complaint with the provincial health department.
Mogamad Samsodien, 65, was rushed to hospital on Monday 3 July after suffering a stroke at home.
His daughter Nafiesha says: “Prior to the stroke, my father had Type 2 Diabetes and first stage prostate cancer. He unfortunately cannot control his bladder and urinates unexpectedly, but we manage to maintain it at home.”
She says in the emergency centre, the family was told by nurses that they didn’t have a catheter or a wheelchair for the oupa.
The worried woman says after a week, her father has yet to receive a scan to indicate what type of stroke he had had, and on Friday he was left for six hours in his own dirt.
“He is now temporarily paralysed on the right side of his body and can barely feed himself,” she says.
“On Friday evening after multiple attempts at getting assistance, my father fell out of his bed to get to the bathroom to clean himself as he was lying with a urinated nappy for more than six hours.”
His tearful wife Fatima adds: “We even had some family members go wash him because they [hospital staff]don’t wash them.”
Health department spokesperson Monique Johnstone claims the hospital management was not aware of the family’s plight until yesterday.
“We can confirm, however, that the incident of the nappy change is most unfortunate and we apologise to the patient and his family for any distress caused,” she says.
“We are investigating the matter as the incident took place while the night shift staff were on duty, and management has personally discussed the incident with Mr Samsodien who is very understanding of the situation.”
Johnstone says the oupa’s scan was booked on a semi-urgent basis as it was unlikely to change the treatment of his existing health conditions.