Mom asked 8x for a bedpan

2007-01-24 09:37

Hilda Fourie

Johannesburg - A dead cat in the children's section, catheters that leak and are not attended to and syringes lying around on the floor.

That was the scene as described by a 52-year-old woman from Pretoria West, who is recovering in the Kalafong hospital in Atteridgeville from a stroke.

Her daughter, who spoke to Beeld, does not want either of them to be named, because it could make things even more difficult for her mother.

"My mother has been in the neurology section of Kalafong hospital since last week, following a stroke."

"She's a big woman and very weak on her right side since the seizure."

"She cannot do things for herself and has to shout for help all the time, because the beds don't have call buttons."

"A few nights ago she asked eight times for a bedpan, without getting one."

"When she is bathed by the sister, they hurt her. Every time my father and I go to visit we have to turn her because her feet are hanging off the bed by that time."

"A dead cat covered in blowflies has been lying on the playground of the children's section opposite neurology the entire morning."

"The sisters are like that with all the patients not just my mom. "

"She's doing OK, but she'll still have to be here for a long time."

- Beeld