‘Clearly critically ill’ man dies after leaving a clinic
Deceased waited for hours before being seen
The death of a 44-year-old man, who collapsed on his way home from the clinic on Friday afternoon, left residents of local location in shock.
Asanda Mata ’ s partner, Maria Adams, who had accompanied him to the health facility said: “I took him to the clinic because he said he had pain.
“We arrived at the clinic at 9am and at 1pm we were still in the queue.
“During this time the nurses could see he was weak and his condition was serious.
“He was short of breath,’’ she said.
After a nurse ran tests on him, Mata was reportedly given tablets and he left the facility.
“He said he was done. We walked slowly. When we were approaching the dumpsite he fell and started to have seizures.
“His hands turned purple and a resident who lived nearby, who is a nurse, came to assist.
“She searched for a pulse and told me he was gone.’’
Adams said Mata was not epileptic.
“He was so sick I expected the nurses to call an ambulance to take him to hospital.”
After the incident, the family requested Gloria Isaacs, Adams’ sister, to report the matter to the clinic staff.
Isaacs said she was told Mata and Adams were never told to leave the clinic but had decided to leave.
Meanwhile, Elizabeth Isaacs, Adams’ other sister, was not happy with the nurse’s response.
“The nurses’ attitude at the clinic is bad, no matter how sick we are they speak any way they want.
“There is no discipline among the nurses. We prefer the old nurses who are now pensioners. “They took a long time to help him,” she said.
Resident Ntombesine Mandleni claimed there were a number of cases of people having died due to a lack of proper care at the clinic.
“I asked the clinic staff why did they not put him on a drip or give him oxygen.”
She did not receive a satisfactory explanation, she said.
The health department had not replied to questions at the time of going to print.