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EDITOR: BETTIE GILIOMEE
Livingstone Hospital conditions shock Reverend LIZEKA TANDWA
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LOCAL Reverend who had a horrific experience with the death of a family member at Livingstone Hospital, has turned to Facebook to share his shock about the conditions at the hospital. Rev. Michael Hutchinson has created the Facebook page “STOP Livingstone Hospital Medical Negligence” which has received over 730 likes in just a month since the page was created. On this Facebook page many others have also lambasted the hospital claiming that patients are turned away at will, that there are exposed used needles and bloodied medication lying around, incompetent staff and shortages in medical supplies. This while, in a media briefing on Friday, the MEC for Health Dr Pumza Dyantyi proudly applauded Livingstone hospital saying it was one of the province’s proudest achievements as it is now furnished with state-of-the-art equipment and has medical staff to better enable service delivery. Hutchinson said he decided to create a Facebook page on July 28 to bring awareness to the problem after complaining to the Provincial Department of Health to no avail. Hutchinson’s uncle-in-law, Gary Rishworth, died after he was admitted at the casualty ward and waited for 7 hours to be attended to by a doctor. He was then left in pain till 6am the next morning for another doctor to hand him (Gary) over to the S.O.C ward for a surgeon. He allegedly only received heavy pain medication after 6pm that evening and was wheeled into surgery after 7pm that night. Rishworth had only a saline drip the whole time. “After sitting for 18 hours after admission in casualty, in absolute severe pain, finally they said his ulcers had burst and he needed an operation. A further 12 hours later, they put him on the table to discover his intestines were failing and his stomach had blown holes in it from the ulcers. He was written as dying in his own stomach acid with his intestines having died. That was 30 hours after submission.
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Livingstone hospital patients sit around waiting for medical assistance. INSERT: Gary Rishworth whose family member claims he died after he was left untreated for hours. PHOTOS:SUPPLIED
LEFT: An open syringe and needle lying around on a counter in the hospital. MIDDLE: Diabetes tablets with what a patient claimed was blood on it also lying around in the area. RIGHT: A Livingstone hospitalbed covered in blood spatter. PHOTOS:SUPPLIED