News / Africa
Woman 'left to rot alive'
27 Jan 2015 at 09:22hrs | Views
A 51-year-old woman from Evaton, south of Johannesburg, who apparently went to Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital in Soweto with a sore knee was reportedly left to rot alive.
Nobuhle Novuka spent three months in hospital from October and her children Nonhlanhla, 21, and Nkululeko, 27, claim their mum only had a problem with her knee when she arrived at Bara.
The poor woman's health went from bad to worse as a result of alleged neglect by hospital staff.
"Sometimes when we went to visit her, we found her tied to a chair. Another time she was tied to a bed and it looked like she was losing her mind," said Nonhlanhla.
The family is shocked and angry about the rotting sores that spread on their mum's body while she was in hospital.
Nonhlanhla said the nurses hadn't even told them about the bed sores when Nobuhle was discharged from hospital two weeks ago.
"When I bathed my mum the following day, I saw this big plaster on her back. When I took it off, I found a big, rotting wound in my mother's back with pieces of yellow gauze and bandage in it," she said.
Nobuhle had another deep wound on her thigh.
"We think these bed sores developed in hospital because they left her to lie on her back all the time," said a weeping Nonhlanhla.
"How is it possible that she developed these wounds when she was supposed to be receiving medical treatment?"
Gauteng Department of Health spokesman Prince Hamnca said the department was looking into the matter.
Nobuhle Novuka spent three months in hospital from October and her children Nonhlanhla, 21, and Nkululeko, 27, claim their mum only had a problem with her knee when she arrived at Bara.
The poor woman's health went from bad to worse as a result of alleged neglect by hospital staff.
"Sometimes when we went to visit her, we found her tied to a chair. Another time she was tied to a bed and it looked like she was losing her mind," said Nonhlanhla.
The family is shocked and angry about the rotting sores that spread on their mum's body while she was in hospital.
"When I bathed my mum the following day, I saw this big plaster on her back. When I took it off, I found a big, rotting wound in my mother's back with pieces of yellow gauze and bandage in it," she said.
Nobuhle had another deep wound on her thigh.
"We think these bed sores developed in hospital because they left her to lie on her back all the time," said a weeping Nonhlanhla.
"How is it possible that she developed these wounds when she was supposed to be receiving medical treatment?"
Gauteng Department of Health spokesman Prince Hamnca said the department was looking into the matter.
Source - dailysun
