Mom dies: hospital ‘negligence blamed

DENIED BASIC HEALTHCARE

A PHOENIX mother has alleged that her daughter died of negligence at the Mahatma Gandhi Memorial Hospital in Phoenix, after she was denied basic health care.

Selestene Simone Moonsamy, 32, of Clayfield, who had been suffering with a blister on her leg and water retention which had caused her severe swelling and pain, was admitted on July 4. She died six days later on July 10.

Her family claim that while at the hospital, both her pleas for help and theirs had fallen on deaf ears, resulting in her condition deteriorating and then her death.

Pam Moonsamy, her mother, said they were now seeking answers and justice as she had “watched her child die”.

“I was at work when she called and asked if I could take her to the hospital as she was in a lot of pain. I picked her up, together with her husband, Denzil Harry, and my son.

“The hospital is not far from our home. We arrived within a few minutes and put her into a wheelchair and took her to the casualty department.

“We explained to the nurse that she was in severe pain and that she had water retention. We were told to go to the Medical Outpatients Department.

“But when we got there, they questioned why we were there and said we should we go back to casualty. Thankfully, a nurse in the department helped us by checking her vitals and then put her on a bed before taking her back to casualty,” she said.

Pam alleged her daughter was not attended to for hours.

“She was screaming in pain, and there was fluid oozing out of the blister. I kept asking the nurses to help her, but they kept saying someone would come.

“I had to act fast so I asked for gauze to clean the wound. She needed to go to the toilet, so I asked the nurse for a diaper and put it on for her,” she said.

Pam said she returned the next day to find Selestene in the same condition.

“She told me that she was in pain the whole night and she was told that she would be given antibiotics, but nothing was given. The bed sheet was also soaked with the fluid from the blister.

“Selestene told me that no one had attended to her the entire night,” she said.

Pam said her daughter’s condition and treatment remained the same over the next few days.

“By Monday, the only difference was that she had been moved to a ward, and her leg had been bandaged. She was on a drip but she just looked different. I was going in the mornings to give her breakfast. I tried to feed her some cereal, but her mouth was dry and her lips were swollen.

“She didn’t seem to be in her right senses as she was swinging her arms around and only making sounds, not speaking. I called for a meeting with the doctor to find out what was happening to her,” she said.

Pam said at the meeting, last Wednesday morning, she was informed that the infection had spread to Selestene’s kidneys.

“So, if I didn’t ask for a meeting, when would they have informed us of what was happening with her?

“I asked the doctor if she could recover and was told she could, which gave me hope. But I knew I had to get her into another hospital. She was suffering and no one cared.”

Pam said that later that evening, the entire family went to hospital during visiting hours.

“Selestene was lying on her side, faced towards the window, with her hands hanging over the bars of the bed. But to make it worse, there was a sheet over her body that was tied to the bed bars. She wasn’t able to move.

“We untied the sheet and as we tried to move her, we saw the needle from the drip hanging down the side of the bed. As we lifted her up, we saw bruises to the side of her back, and the tubes for the drip underneath her. The drip bag was lying in a basin next to her.

“As we placed her down on the pillow, there was what appeared to be froth around her mouth and then suddenly she opened her eyes wide, and then her eyes rolled back.

“We started screaming for help and that’s when the nurses came running and shooed us away,” she said.

Pam said about 10 minutes later, she and Harry were called into the doctor’s office.

“The doctor asked questions about her health. We were still under the impression that she was okay. After about 10 minutes the doctor paused for a moment and said, ‘she is gone’.

“After all of the questioning, just to tell us she had passed away.

“To make it even worse, we asked to see her, but they refused.

“Selestene was the life of our family. A 4-year-old little girl has been left without her mother, who was her whole world.

“All we want is justice as we believe she was denied basic health care and the hospital was negligent,” she said.

The family have lodged a complaint with the hospital.

Charlene Singh, chairperson of WomanPACT, a local women’s advocacy group, said: “Selestene’s story highlights the systemic failures within our healthcare system, particularly affecting the most vulnerable among us.

“She was denied the basic care that every human being deserves, and this negligence cannot be overlooked.”

Singh said they have since started a petition in a bid to get justice for Selestene.

“However, our petition, ‘Justice for Selestene’, is not just about one woman’s tragic death, it is about demanding accountability and immediate reform to ensure that no other family has to endure such a loss.

“We are calling for a thorough investigation into the circumstances surrounding Selestene’s death, improvements in patient care standards, and accountability for those responsible,” she said.

They will hold a picket outside the hospital for 67 minutes on Mandela Day (Thursday), from 10am.

Ntokozo Maphisa, spokesperson for the KZN Department of Health, said: “We do not discuss in the media details pertaining to the clinical management of patients, as these are confidential.”

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