POLOKO TAU
A SOWETO couple believe that had an ambulance arrived, and if Chris Hani Baragwanath Academic Hospital staff immediately attended to their child, he might have been saved.
Moreotsile More and Valerie Da Gama, of Dube, said their seven-month-old child, William Keabetswe More, died on his second day in hospital last Monday.
More said their nightmare began at around 2am the day before when they called an ambulance after William started having fits.
“Three calls and three hours later of waiting, the ambulance failed to arrive, and we caught the first taxi at about 5am. On arrival at Bara, nurses took their time asking us endless questions.
“We found two nurses napping behind the desk. Without taking a look at the child, nurses told us to sit on a bench and wait for the doctor,” he said.
“I went back to the nurses about an hour later. Then the doctor came, looked at the child and gave him some panado, which came out right through the nose, almost choking him.”
More said the doctor then grabbed the child and rushed into one of the rooms to examine him.
“We learnt about two hours later that the child has sustained brain damage and (his) kidneys were also affected. He was put on life support and finally admitted to the intensive-care unit almost four hours after we’d arrived.”
More said they went back to the hospital on Monday to check on their child.
“I was holding his tiny hand, which was turning pale, and after a while it went cold, his chest stopped moving and I knew then that he was dead.”
For More’s fianceé, this was not the first time she has lost a child at Baragwanath.
“Two years ago my 12-year-old daughter, Charlene Da Gama, was admitted after breathing problems. She was seen by a doctor about seven hours later, but died about a week later.”
Da Gama accuses the hospital staff of “not putting people’s lives first”.
“I would love for my children’s cases to be used as examples so that the hospital staff could treat patients fairly and for further deaths to be prevented.”
Bara spokesman Nkosiyethu Mazibuko dismissed the couple’s allegations as “baseless”.
“There are internal procedures and we will investigate their complaint. With regard to allegations that they have found nurses napping, that can’t be true.
“We do, however, ask the family to come to us so that an investigation can be launched on all the allegations,” he said.