Katutura hospital in ‘hot water’ again

A FAMILY from Groot Aub is crying foul after their mother allegedly fell and broke her hip while she was being treated at the Katutura State Hospital.Mary-Ann Pietersen (53) died in this State hospital on Friday at about 04h40.

Her daughter, Priscilla Maasdorp, says they plan to sue the Ministry of Health and Social Services in connection with her mother’s death. “We won’t leave it at that.”According to Maasdorp, her mother fell from a chair in ward 5B and broke her hip on May 22. She was admitted to hospital for respiratory problems in May, she says. “The time when she fell was the time when I phoned her from South Africa and there was no one who could assist her.”Maasdorp is based in Kuilsriver in the Western Cape. She says when she phoned her mother back after 15 minutes, a nursing sister was attending to her mother in the ward.“I asked my mother to give the phone to the sister, but the sister refused to talk to me.” The sister allegedly told her that she could not explain her mother’s condition to her over the phone.Maasdorp took unpaid leave from work the next day and arrived in Windhoek at her mother’s bedside on May 24.She says when she arrived at the hospital, her mother was using a bedpan without any help from the nursing staff “as a result of them sitting at the [reception] desk and chatting to each other”.It was only after she had gone to ask for help that one nurse helped her mother. Another nurse allegedly said that she did not know that Pietersen needed help to use the bedpan.On the same day, her mother was discharged without any X-rays being done, Maasdorp says. They took her back to hospital the next day because she was in excruciating pain. “I personally think that the staff, including doctors, neglected my mother. I think those things would not happen if staff are always near to assist patients.”Maasdorp says she received a call from the hospital on Friday that her mother had died. According to her, they were not informed of the cause of her mother’s death.On Thursday, The Namibian approached Manga Libita, the hospital’s spokesperson, for comment. This was after Maasdorp had lodged an official complaint with Libita.The spokesperson said she had not yet received the complaint. On Friday, Libita was informed that Pietersen had died. She undertook to provide feedback on Friday. However, by yesterday, no response had been received from her.Asked about the X-ray facilities at the hospital that have allegedly been out of order for months, Libita denied this. According to her, the facilities were being renovated. She could not say how long the renovation would continue.A senior doctor at the hospital last week said that it had become impossible to work in the conditions prevailing at the Katutura State Hospital.