Drama as family claims ‘untreated’ patient

20 Dec, 2014 - 00:12 0 Views
Drama as family claims  ‘untreated’ patient United Bulawayo Hospitals staff and family members transfer Ms Naume Mushiringi to a waiting truck before taking her home on Friday

The Sunday News

RELATIVES of a woman who had been languishing at United Bulawayo Hospitals (UBH) where she had been awaiting surgery for close to a month after being involved in a bus accident, are up in arms with the hospital after a surgeon they claim to have initially referred them to his private practice blocked them from flying her to South Africa where they were going to pay less.

The woman who was supposed to be flown out on Friday, initially had received a clearance letter from the hospital on 12 December, allowing her to travel on an Air Zimbabwe passenger flight.

However, after having booked the flight, relatives of the woman were barred by hospital officials from collecting her and a letter disowning the woman’s initial clearance was sent to Air Zimbabwe which then cancelled her booking.

According to the letter written on behalf of the orthopaedic surgeon, Dr Collin Msasanure, the initial letter which authorised the movement of the severely injured patient, Ms Naume Mushiringi, for further treatment in South Africa was done by a junior doctor without approval from his superiors.

Ironically, the initial letter by the junior doctor, a R D Machanja, was also written on behalf of Dr Msasanure.

Ms Mushiringi (49) was admitted to the hospital on 25 November last month after being involved in a bus accident the previous day in Beitbridge where a Mandaza cross-border bus rammed into a stationary haulage truck injuring 40 and killing two people.

She was initially admitted to Beitbridge Hospital but was transferred to UBH for specialist treatment. According to UBH, she suffered a right supracondylar femur fracture and a left intercondylar femur fracture, whereby both her legs are broken severely. Mrs Rebecca Dzvene, an elder sister to Ms Mushiringi narrated their ordeal to the Sunday News.

“When Naume was admitted we thought she was going to be treated soon enough but all the hospital did was give her pain killers as she waited for an operation,” she said.

She said the doctors that attended to her sister said she would need an operation to correct the fractures on her legs and they initially set a date for the operation but it was cancelled. Mrs Dzvene said the set dates were further cancelled throughout December as the hospital claimed that it had no resources to carry out the operation.

Ms Mushiringi’s relatives and another family with an injured relative at the same hospital claim they were offered services by Dr Msasanure outside the hospital at an exorbitant fee.

The Mushiringi family said they were told they had an option of moving their patient to a private hospital and get the operation done in no time but were charged over $10 000 which they could not afford.

Another family also claimed they were charged $3 000 for the treatment of their relative and they equally could not afford and were now stuck at UBH.

These claims were dismissed by Dr Msasanure who said doctors and specialists were not allowed to refer patients.

“It is not correct what they say; doctors are not allowed to refer patients to their private practices. The patients went and consulted privately at my office and as per norm, they were given quotations which they could not afford and it is not a crime that they failed to pay.

“It is not true that I summoned them to my office,” Dr Msasanure said.

Frustrated by the postponement of the dates and Dr Msasanure’s charges, Ms Mushiringi’s relatives decided to send her to South Africa for treatment and informed the hospital.

“We informed the hospital and they produced documents which they said needed to be taken to Air Zimbabwe so that they process a ticket for us. The doctor also filled in a form that proved that our patient was in a position to travel by air and it was used to secure a ticket.

“After we booked the flight we came to the hospital to get our relative on Friday morning as the flight was scheduled for 2pm but as we waited we received a call from the airline informing us that our ticket had been cancelled,” she said.

The relatives were surprised that the hospital had facilitated a cancellation of tickets without their knowledge and demanded answers from the authorities.

A letter written on behalf of Dr Msasanure informed Air Zimbabwe of the reversal of previous communication that authorised Ms Mushiringi to travel to South Africa.

The letter also apologises on behalf of the junior doctor who had “wrongfully” given clearance to the patient on behalf of Dr Msasanure.

A hospital spokesperson who spoke to the Sunday News said the junior doctor did not follow the set procedures and cleared the patient without notifying his superiors.

“The junior doctor completed a form that was sent to Air Zimbabwe without the consent of Dr Msasanure and it authorised the patient to travel by air for further treatment yet in actual fact the patient was in no position to do that.

“This is when Dr Msasanure wrote to Air Zimbabwe and reversed the previous letter and this then meant we had to stop the patient from travelling as we feared for their safety on board,” explained the spokesperson.

The hospital said they recommended that the patient be transported via an air ambulance that is well equipped and manned or via a road ambulance but the relatives decided otherwise.

“Patients are not supposed to be ferried via a commercial passenger flight as that is a very high risk. That is why we suggested an air or road ambulance but the family ignored this call and they went on to book their own commercial passenger flight and we could not let that happen,” said the spokesperson.

The cancellation of the flight infuriated the relatives of Ms Mushiringi who felt that they were being held hostage by the hospital.

“We are not happy with the cancellation as we want her to be treated as soon as possible as she is in great pain following the accident. We want her in South Africa where she will be operated on and her life gets back to normal,” Mrs Dzvene said.

The Mushiringi family said due to the long time their relative has been in hospital, she had since developed bed sores.

“Vatoita maronda nekurara, she has very little movement and we had to purchase a fan so that she can have some air when we turn her on her side and we are not happy about this,” said Mrs Annaline Mugumbo, a sister to Ms Mushiringi.

Documents in possession of Sunday News show one letter authorising Ms Mushiringi to be moved to South Africa stating that she is fit to travel by air and it is dated 12 December 2014. It is signed by Dr Machanja on behalf of Dr Msasanure.

Another letter barring her from travelling is also available and it is signed on behalf of Dr Msasanure, dated 19 December 2014. Air Zimbabwe’s area manager also counter signed and noted the changes from UBH.

A third letter also dated 19 December 2014 is also available which discharges Ms Mushiringi as per request of the relatives to a different hospital. It also states that she is fit for road or air ambulance travel. It is signed by a Dr Chataika on behalf of Dr Msasanure.

However, the hospital spokesperson said the reasons for the delay in operating on the patient was due to the shortage of equipment and other resources which he said were “an open secret”.

“We are all aware of the current situation in our hospitals and this has made us fail to execute our mandate fully, that is why there was a delay in procedures,” he said.

Some of the Mushiringi family members lambasted the hospital for initially allowing them to travel in the process raising their hopes and later denying them that opportunity at the last minute.

“How does a junior doctor authorise such a serious thing without getting permission only for the senior doctor to come and reverse the situation? We had actually thought we were making a breakthrough but now our hopes are shattered,” said Mrs Mugumbo.

They also questioned why the junior doctors operated without supervision such that they make serious decisions that put the lives of patients at risk.

“Where was the consultant (Dr Msasanure) when all this was happening, it’s a sign they are busy attending to other issues important to them and they do not have time for patients,” fumed one relative.

The family on Friday afternoon took the severely fractured Ms Mushiringi home as they said they had lost faith in the hospital and staff.

“It is better she is discharged than to leave her here; she is equally frustrated and she said she cannot stand another night at UBH so we are taking her home and mapping a way forward from there,” said Mrs Dzvene.

Ms Mushiringi was then made to sign forms to show that she was being discharged at her own will and also that she refused medical treatment from UBH.

By late last night Ms Mushiringi was reported to have been admitted to a hospital in the Midlands where her family hopes she would get treatment that will make her strong enough to travel to South Africa by road. Air Zimbabwe reportedly told the family that they would only be refunded their airfares after six weeks, and that the airline would penalise them for the late cancellation by deducting a percentage of the fares.

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