Katutura hospital defends services
The Katutura state hospital's superintendent has apologised for poor service, but in the same breath denied specific complaints made by a member of the public last month.
The medical superintendent at the Katutura State Hospital, Dr Fady Ashmawy, has apologised after a public complaint about poor healthcare, including long waiting times, lack of medical staff and rude attitudes, led to a public outcry and several newspaper reports in July.
Nevertheless, following the brief apology at a press conference and assurances that the hospital has a 24-hour open-door policy and welcomes all feedback and complaints, Ashmawy questioned the accuracy of the complaint. He said an investigation into the specific complaints made by Rebecca Kamanda found that the patient, Kamanda's mother, did not wait as long as claimed and that because her case wasn't deemed an emergency, longer waiting times were to be expected. He further accused Kamanda, who has rallied widespread support behind her demands for an overhaul and better healthcare at state health institutions, of demoralising staff and spreading unverified rumours.
“The staff felt demoralised. They are really depressed and upset and feel that all the dangerous and risky work they do is not appreciated,” Ashmawy said. He said while hospital staff welcomed “questions and prosecution if we are wrong … fake allegations are not welcomed at all”.
He disagreed with Kamanda's assertion that her mother had arrived at 11:00, and said hospital records indicated she was admitted at the radiology department at 14:50.
Her initial medical assessment indicated she was not a priority case in need of rapid intervention, he said, adding that hospitals don't serve patients on a first-come, first-served basis, but based on their medical needs.
He said at the end of the day a doctor recommended that Kamanda's mother be allowed to go home, that “there was no danger, no emergency in this case”. On Monday Ashmawy said the Katutura hospital's statistics for the last quarter showed that more than 31 250 patients were treated there over the three months.
On average, the hospital received a new patient every five minutes, and the casualty department attended to a new patient every four minutes.
“All the cases are attended to by professionals. They are all dealt with according to the guidelines, smoothly, without interruption,” he said.
He added that although “nobody is 100% perfect, we are trying to be perfect”.
Counterclaims
Kamanda told Namibian Sun that Ashmawy's claim that her mother had arrived after 14:00 was untrue.
Further, she claimed that her mother was eventually admitted to hospital, after a second doctor examined her nearly 14 hours after she had arrived by ambulance the previous day at 11:00. Kamanda said her mother was discharged four days after she had been admitted. Kamanda told Namibian Sun that ambulance records would confirm that her mother had arrived at the hospital at around 11:00 in the morning, and not later.
She said after she was referred to the radiology department that day, her mother sat in a long queue for hours, while enduring “excruciating pain” and vomiting constantly, without any medical assistance during that time. She said the queue only started moving after 18:00 that night after Kamanda could join her mother and pleaded for assistance.
“I was very calm when I approached the radiologist. It was her comments that aggravated me,” Kamanda said.
She said although she recorded the exchange on her phone, she was forced to delete the video, which would have supported her story, after she was “bullied” to do so by Namibian Defence Force personnel on the scene. “I merely raised my voice. It wasn't just about my mother. It was about so many people who had been there in line waiting for seven, ten hours.” She said it was a “blatant lie” that she had insulted the staff, saying she was frustrated at the slow pace and bad attitude of the staff.
JANA-MARI SMITH
Nevertheless, following the brief apology at a press conference and assurances that the hospital has a 24-hour open-door policy and welcomes all feedback and complaints, Ashmawy questioned the accuracy of the complaint. He said an investigation into the specific complaints made by Rebecca Kamanda found that the patient, Kamanda's mother, did not wait as long as claimed and that because her case wasn't deemed an emergency, longer waiting times were to be expected. He further accused Kamanda, who has rallied widespread support behind her demands for an overhaul and better healthcare at state health institutions, of demoralising staff and spreading unverified rumours.
“The staff felt demoralised. They are really depressed and upset and feel that all the dangerous and risky work they do is not appreciated,” Ashmawy said. He said while hospital staff welcomed “questions and prosecution if we are wrong … fake allegations are not welcomed at all”.
He disagreed with Kamanda's assertion that her mother had arrived at 11:00, and said hospital records indicated she was admitted at the radiology department at 14:50.
Her initial medical assessment indicated she was not a priority case in need of rapid intervention, he said, adding that hospitals don't serve patients on a first-come, first-served basis, but based on their medical needs.
He said at the end of the day a doctor recommended that Kamanda's mother be allowed to go home, that “there was no danger, no emergency in this case”. On Monday Ashmawy said the Katutura hospital's statistics for the last quarter showed that more than 31 250 patients were treated there over the three months.
On average, the hospital received a new patient every five minutes, and the casualty department attended to a new patient every four minutes.
“All the cases are attended to by professionals. They are all dealt with according to the guidelines, smoothly, without interruption,” he said.
He added that although “nobody is 100% perfect, we are trying to be perfect”.
Counterclaims
Kamanda told Namibian Sun that Ashmawy's claim that her mother had arrived after 14:00 was untrue.
Further, she claimed that her mother was eventually admitted to hospital, after a second doctor examined her nearly 14 hours after she had arrived by ambulance the previous day at 11:00. Kamanda said her mother was discharged four days after she had been admitted. Kamanda told Namibian Sun that ambulance records would confirm that her mother had arrived at the hospital at around 11:00 in the morning, and not later.
She said after she was referred to the radiology department that day, her mother sat in a long queue for hours, while enduring “excruciating pain” and vomiting constantly, without any medical assistance during that time. She said the queue only started moving after 18:00 that night after Kamanda could join her mother and pleaded for assistance.
“I was very calm when I approached the radiologist. It was her comments that aggravated me,” Kamanda said.
She said although she recorded the exchange on her phone, she was forced to delete the video, which would have supported her story, after she was “bullied” to do so by Namibian Defence Force personnel on the scene. “I merely raised my voice. It wasn't just about my mother. It was about so many people who had been there in line waiting for seven, ten hours.” She said it was a “blatant lie” that she had insulted the staff, saying she was frustrated at the slow pace and bad attitude of the staff.
JANA-MARI SMITH
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