Oshikuku hospital under fire
In a matter where the family of a pensioner allege that St Martin's hospital at Oshikuku caused his disability, the hospital now says it cannot locate the man's medical records.
The health ministry has been unable to provide the medical records of a pensioner treated at St Martin's Hospital at Oshikuku to the Health Professions Council of Namibia (HPCNA).
The man's family claim that he became disabled after being kept in hospital for six months with a dislocated hip.
The acting chief medical officer at the Oshikuku hospital, Dr Samwel Awe, said they could not locate Jonas Nehemia's record for the treatment he received at the hospital from 8 November 2010 to April 2011.
The HPCNA manager for legal services, Sylvia Hamata, said they had repeatedly requested Nehemia's medical records from the hospital and the health ministry, but to date they had received nothing.
“The council still hasn't received the said medical records from the health ministry. Our last correspondence requesting these from the ministry permanent secretary is dated 13 November 2017,” Hamata said.
This has irked Nehemia's wife, Susana Matheus, 75.
“They treated my husband for almost seven months in their hospital and now they are saying they cannot find the medical record? This cannot be true, where have they taken it to?” she said.
“We had hope at the beginning, but now we have given up. My husband cannot move by himself anymore. I also have to stay home all the time to take care of him.”
The family of the 84-year-old Nehemia lodged a complaint with HPCNA, seeking answers as to how the hospital could have admitted him without doing an X-ray examination.
Nehemia, who is the village headman of Oshiku Shomunkete, fell while gathering his livestock on the afternoon of 7 November 2010. He was taken to the Oshikuku hospital the following day, where he stayed until April the following year.
The family claims that the hospital staff only dressed him and no other treatment was given. He did not move at all until he was eventually discharged in April 2011.
The family said the hospital staff could not provide them with any diagnosis.
Nehemia was discharged and returned home, but he could not walk and was confined to his bed. Two months later, his family took him to the Oshakati Intermediate Hospital where X-rays were taken.
“We were shocked to hear that the X-ray showed that his right hip was dislocated and this is what caused his disability. They told us that it was too late to repair it since it had been dislocated for too long.
“They said there was nothing they could do since he was Oshikuku's patient and they did not want to take any risks. They only sent him for physiotherapy at Oshikuku hospital,” Nehemia's son, Silas Emvula, said.
He said they took his father back to Oshikuku, but nothing was done and his father has been disabled since that time.
The man's family claim that he became disabled after being kept in hospital for six months with a dislocated hip.
The acting chief medical officer at the Oshikuku hospital, Dr Samwel Awe, said they could not locate Jonas Nehemia's record for the treatment he received at the hospital from 8 November 2010 to April 2011.
The HPCNA manager for legal services, Sylvia Hamata, said they had repeatedly requested Nehemia's medical records from the hospital and the health ministry, but to date they had received nothing.
“The council still hasn't received the said medical records from the health ministry. Our last correspondence requesting these from the ministry permanent secretary is dated 13 November 2017,” Hamata said.
This has irked Nehemia's wife, Susana Matheus, 75.
“They treated my husband for almost seven months in their hospital and now they are saying they cannot find the medical record? This cannot be true, where have they taken it to?” she said.
“We had hope at the beginning, but now we have given up. My husband cannot move by himself anymore. I also have to stay home all the time to take care of him.”
The family of the 84-year-old Nehemia lodged a complaint with HPCNA, seeking answers as to how the hospital could have admitted him without doing an X-ray examination.
Nehemia, who is the village headman of Oshiku Shomunkete, fell while gathering his livestock on the afternoon of 7 November 2010. He was taken to the Oshikuku hospital the following day, where he stayed until April the following year.
The family claims that the hospital staff only dressed him and no other treatment was given. He did not move at all until he was eventually discharged in April 2011.
The family said the hospital staff could not provide them with any diagnosis.
Nehemia was discharged and returned home, but he could not walk and was confined to his bed. Two months later, his family took him to the Oshakati Intermediate Hospital where X-rays were taken.
“We were shocked to hear that the X-ray showed that his right hip was dislocated and this is what caused his disability. They told us that it was too late to repair it since it had been dislocated for too long.
“They said there was nothing they could do since he was Oshikuku's patient and they did not want to take any risks. They only sent him for physiotherapy at Oshikuku hospital,” Nehemia's son, Silas Emvula, said.
He said they took his father back to Oshikuku, but nothing was done and his father has been disabled since that time.
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