‘Doctors turned her away to die’
Family blames Grey’s Hospital for death of young woman
THE FAMILY of Blanche Brown, 35, blame Grey’s Hospital staff for her death after she was allegedly turned away from the hospital, despite being gravely ill.
They claim the ambulance that was taking her to the hospital first picked up a number of other patients, resulting in her arriving at the hospital in Pietermaritzburg late.
They also claim her operation was previously delayed for two weeks because the machine needed to remove her gallstones was broken. They were told it was the only hospital in the province that had the machine needed to perform the operation.
Brown’s cousin, Lynette Behr, who was at her bedside when she died, said they were devastated at her death because they believe it could have been prevented.
“I cry every day,” said Behr. “I don’t think time will heal this. Her mother raised me, so we grew up as sisters. And no matter what was happening in either of our lives, we were there for each other.”
She said Brown suffered from gallstones and had seen a doctor in January, who told her she needed an operation urgently. The gallstones were outside her gall bladder and were poisoning her system.
“The money was raised and she had the operation at a private hospital. But she was still ill and went to a public hospital in Newcastle, where she lives. When the doctors tried to book her in at Grey’s Hospital they were told the machine was broken and she would have to wait to have the gallstones removed.”
Behr said Brown waited the two weeks for the machine to be fixed and went to Grey’s Hospital on February 5. She was given a date for the operation in May.
However her condition worsened and she called for an ambulance to take her to the hospital on February 16, when she was allegedly turned away and told to come back the following Monday.
“He (the doctor) obviously looked at her and decided that because she could talk and sit up she did not seem critical. After she was sent home that Thursday, her condition deteriorated rapidly over the week- end. By Sunday she was unable to talk or walk. Her family left Newcastle at 4am on Monday morning to take her back to the hospital. She was admitted, but doctors said they couldn’t perform the operation because her vitals were all over the place,” a distraught Behr said.
“Doctors told me there was nothing they could do for her. She was moved into the critical care ward that Monday and died the following afternoon.
“If the doctor had given her five minutes of his time she would have had the operation, she would have had a fighting chance. But he turned her away, he turned her away to die! We are speaking out because we don’t want this to happen to another family. I know government hospitals and doctors are under a lot of pressure, but at the cost of people’s lives? If you use government hospitals you are at their mercy,” said Behr.
She described Brown as loving, bubbly and very kind.
“The hundreds of people who turned up for her funeral is testament to how many people’s lives she has touched.”
She said Brown had left behind a 16-year-old daughter and a two-month-old son.
Department of Health spokesman Agiza Hlongwane said the management of the hospital would be making an appointment with the complainant this week to give them the opportunity to explain exactly what had happened.
He said any loss of life within any of the department’s healthcare institutions was regrettable. “The Department is waiting for a full report from Grey’s Hospital.”