Family puzzled by dad's cause of death
Netcare private hospital in Richards Bay where the Ngwenya family's father died 'after complications'. Netcare private hospital in Richards Bay where the Ngwenya family's father died 'after complications'.
Durban - A Zululand family is demanding answers from a Netcare private healthcare facility in Richards Bay following the death of their father. He went in for a simple procedure and should not have died from complications, they claim.
To complicate matters, the family says the cause of his death on the police report is reportedly different from that on the autopsy report.
“My father was the son of a chief and was considered to be a fit individual who drove himself last month to The Bay Hospital in Richards Bay for a prostate operation,” said Zibuyile Mbhele Ngwenya, the eldest daughter of Fitson Mbhele, who died at the facility.
“I then received a call a day after the procedure to say I needed to collect my father’s clothes as he was taken back into theatre due to complications. The hospital did not call us before he was taken back into surgery. We found this very strange, as we expected him to be discharged."
Three days later he died.
"We had to go to the police station ourselves and then beg the hospital to release the document needed by the SAPS and pathology for an autopsy to be performed.
“After all the documentation was completed, we were shocked to discover that my father’s cause of death on the autopsy was listed as complications from surgery while the police said the hospital file stated low blood pressure.”
The family said doctors told them a blood clot had developed.
“We have been left devastated by this as my father was a single parent who raised his four daughters and two grand-daughters on his own after we lost our mother a few years ago.
"We need closure on what happened to him.
“The hospital did not even have the courtesy to call us to express sympathy and the CEO ignored our messages and e-mails. This is not what you expect from a private hospital.”
However, the hospital has rejected allegations that it failed to act with compassion and said the treating doctor was responsible for determining the cause of death, not the hospital.
The hospital’s general manager, Alan Abrahams, said they expressed their condolences to the family and provided a copy of the deceased’s file.
“The family requested that we confirm the cause of death for insurance purposes. It is important to note that the hospital has no role in determining the cause of death as this is the responsibility of the treating doctor.
“Please note that doctors are not employed by the hospital, and if the doctor is not able to establish the cause of death, the matter is referred to the police,” he said.
Abrahams said the hospital had not seen the report. But this is little comfort to the family who insist their father’s death be fully investigated.
“How can the hospital say they are not responsible for doctors? My father died in their facility and was operated in their hospital,” said Zibuyile Mbhele Ngwenya.