The Gauteng Department of Health says it is probing the allegations of non-functional medical equipment, poor infrastructure and negligence made by broadcaster Tom London against the Helen Joseph Hospital.
This comes after London posted a video on social media on Saturday complaining about the bad treatment he received from the hospital.
Hundreds of his fans contributed to have him moved to a private hospital within hours of the post going viral.
In the video, while in the hospital ward, he bemoaned the bad treatment from most of the doctors, alleging that patients are treated like cockroaches.
London developed a chest infection about five weeks ago and was using over-the-counter-medication. He was then rushed to the Helen Joseph hospital which he described as a circus.
The state of Helen Joseph hospital💔
— Lerato Pillay 🇿🇦💎🇿🇦 (@nyebe_official) September 7, 2024
The video was taken today 👇 pic.twitter.com/6patzkcSjh
“The doctors that run around here treat patients like cockroaches. I haven’t seen one doctor walk up to a patient in our ward and do ‘good morning Mr so-and-so, how are you?’ Nothing!”
London, who looked fed up with the poor treatment he received from the government hospital, said most doctors treat patients with absolute disdain and disrespect.
“I am talking about this from your Wits medical student all the way up to the chain of this hospital. I have never seen a level of disrespect from human beings like this in my life,” he said on the video.
“Yesterday, I was taken down for a CT ( computed tomography) scan to check if I’ve got cancer. I had the CT scan and I was brought back up. A few hours later, they (referring to the doctors) came back and said ‘oh we made a mistake and we forgot to put the dye in you’ …So, I went down and had another CT scan.”
He said he had been attended by Dr Pillay and Dr Van Eck, who reported to him almost every day about his condition. He had no problem with them.
“Yesterday (Friday), a young blonde doctor came to my bed, and looked at me, ignored me and started writing in my file for 10 minutes and said absolutely nothing. She then announced that Dr Pillay is no longer my doctor and I got a new doctor.”
London said he has not seen the new doctor that was assigned to him for 48 hours.
“A young female doctor told me that Dr Pillay has handed over his less complicated patients to a new doctor. She gave me the doctor's name I can’t remember and I haven’t seen that doctor for 48 hours.”
He went on to say that the doctors at the hospital treat patients like “hobos,” which translates to homeless people, showing no empathy.
London took a walk into the hospital to expose the dire state of the non-functional water taps, ceilings peeling off, non-functional electricity plug points and alleging that a dead man was left unattended in his ward for 20 minutes.
In response to the allegations raised by London, the Gauteng Department of Health said the matter was being investigated to establish the facts and attend to the issues raised by London.
Departmental spokesperson, Motaletale Modiba said while the matter is being investigated, it is important to note that the department has launched a provincial campaign called "I Serve With A Smile" nine months ago, aimed at improving staff attitude and patient experience of care.
Modiba said the programme is currently being rolled out at all healthcare facilities.
“Furthermore, the GDoH has established an internal Infrastructure Unit which has now developed a maintenance and refurbishment programme. Previously, this function was carried out by a sister department of infrastructure.”
He said through this intervention, several facilities have already undergone maintenance and refurbishments, such as the completed Intensive Care Unit (ICU) wards at Chris Hani Baragwanath Academic Hospital, Dr George Mukhari Academic Hospital and Jubilee District Hospital, Discoverers Community Health Centre as well as refurbishment at Kopanong Hospital. Helen Joseph Hospital and other facilities are yet to receive attention.
Modiba urged patients to report their complaints to the quality assurance offices located at each facility when they are not happy with the service standards.
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