Dying man let down by system, say friends

A man was ignored and let down by the ambulance service, Frere hospital, the police and mortuary services as he lay dying, his friends claim.

They said their friend, who became ill after experiencing shortness of breath at his home in Nompumelo:

● Was not picked up by the ambulance service; and

● Was discharged by Frere Hospital though he was clearly still ill and died a few hours later. ● Lay dead for eight hours before a mortuary van came to fetch him, after the ambulance service refused to pick him up.

The name of the man, who was from Richards Bay, is being withheld while next of kin are being notified.

His employer, Nqabakazi Pupuma, said she called an ambulance a number of times.

“He was getting weaker and the ambulance was not coming so we decided to rush him to Frere Hospital,” she said.

The man’s friend, Tabo Mbalula, said he stayed with him the whole night at Frere.

“They said he was not an emergency case and that they were dealing with emergencies. We sat there from about 6pm until they attended to him at 3am on Wednesday morning,” he said.

“He was taken for an X-ray and they drained his urine and told us to take him to Empilweni Day Hospital.

“They said we must find our own way there.

“They just chased us away.” Mbalula said.

The man died at around 8am. Vuyelwa Ntwanambi, a neighbour, said: “I phoned the ambulance and police since 8.45am and they said they would get back to me. They never did.” The body was removed at 5pm. Provincial health spokesman Lwandile Sicwetsha said the man was “triaged” (quickly assessed) at Frere Hospital on Tuesday at 7.30pm on Tuesday. Doctors investigated at 9pm. The patient had an advanced chronic disorder with an acute respiratory tract infection.

“Treatment was initiated for this infection and the patient was discharged to follow up review. It would appear that the patient sadly succumbed to the advanced stages of his chronic disorder.”