‘Hospital let my mom die’: Grieving son slams Mitchells Plain doctors in Facebook post
LOVING DUO: Gary Williams and his 72-year-old mother Priscilla
A social media post exposing alleged ill treatment at Mitchells Plain District Hospital has gone viral, with one man blaming student doctors after his mother passed away while at the facility.
The post, shared by Gary Williams from Beacon Valley, received thousands of reactions on social media.
He accused the hospital, also widely known as the New Lentegeur Hospital, of not assisting his 72-year-old mother, Priscilla, who had been struggling to breathe.
“People of Mitchells Plain need to know the state of Mitchells Plain District Hospital, Trauma Unit,” Gary said on Facebook.
“Share this post. My mom was everything to me and nobody helped her for all those hours she spent waiting there.
“Rest in peace mom, sorry for leaving you there,” the grieving son concluded.
Gary told the Daily Voice that he posted his message in the hope that authorities are made aware about what is happening.
“I made that post because it was the second time within a week that I took my mom to the hospital. The first time she couldn’t breathe, we sat at the hospital from 2am last Thursday until 8pm that night,” he explained.
“Student doctors discharged her after finding she had pneumonia and I had to go back the next day for medication because the pharmacy was closed.”
Four days later, he had to rush his mom back to hospital.
“We got there around 2am again on Monday and tried to give them a letter we received the week before, but were sent from person to person because there were no doctors available, only students,” Gary claimed.
“The security also wouldn’t let me sit with her. I felt so helpless.
“I looked around and saw all these sick people, especially the elderly and they were just sitting there, some crying...there was nobody there to care for them.”
By 3pm on Monday afternoon, Gary said that a nurse contacted him and explained that his mother would be admitted overnight.
“After visiting hours, I left and told my mom I would be back early the next morning. I still gave her a kiss, not knowing it would be the last time I would see her alive,” he added.
The following day he received a call saying his mother had passed away, from pneumonia and tuberculosis.
“I know it is God’s will but what if I listened to my mom and didn’t take her back there? I just want answers,” Gary said.
“Is the hospital using our loved ones for these students to practise on?”
Shimoney Regter, spokesperson for Western Cape Government Health and Wellness, confirmed that the department is aware of Gary’s post.
“We express our sincere condolences to the family during this time,” Regter said.
“While we have not received any formal complaint from the family, hospital management has invited the family to speak to them to provide information and support, so that we can establish the facts and provide the family with accurate information.
“We acknowledge that our emergency centre is under extreme pressure, but we can assure the community that every effort was made to provide life-saving care to Miss Williams while she was in our care.”