THOHOYANDOU - A labour inspector in Thohoyandou, Mr Nthatheni Ramulongo, is angry with the provincial department of Health and Welfare following the failure by Louis Trichardt Memorial Hospital to stitch back his left ear that was cut off during a vehicle accident.

Ramulongo (47) of Makhado Residential Area in Nzhelele, had his ear cut off by a piece of broken glass that fell from a damaged windscreen, when his car was involved in an accident along the Tshikwaranai road at about 15:30 on December 22.

He then picked his ear and wrapped it in toilet paper and according to him, he arrived at the Louis Trichardt Memorial Hospital at around 16:30. To his surprise, the nurses told him that his ear could not be stitched on unless he came with his own doctor, as there was no doctor in the hospital.

Ramulongo said he went home a dejected person, as he was only bandaged. "That night I did not sleep as I was in pain. Because of the frustration, I threw the ear into the toilet and flushed it away as I could not bear the pain of staying with the piece of my body," he said.

He said he later learnt that his ear could have been stitched back if he kept it in cold water, but that was too late, as he had already flushed it away.

"I am very disappointed by the way these nurses treated me. I went there in the hope that I could get help as in any other hospital. These people should put a note, which says ‘Sorry No Doctors Here’. But there was no sign when we arrived there. Otherwise the person who took me there would have taken me to another hospital," said Ramulongo.

Ramulongo said his other concern is that the nurses never tried to devise some means to get him an ambulance to go to anther hospital. "Even one of the sisters who knows me just greeted me and passed. To make matters worse, they did not even advise me to put the ear on cold water, which is very cruel," he said.

"I am not intending to sue anybody here. This is my government. What I am expecting to see is a change in the attitude of these nurses. My other appeal is that, if that hospital could not offer service to the people, they should close it or get some doctors. My biggest fear is that our senior citizens might be treated worse that what I have seen."

The departmental spokesperson, Mr Charley Nkadimeng said he was not aware that there was any hospital that does not have doctors. "Although I do not know what happened there, I suspect the doctor was not there only on that particular time," said Nkadimeng. However, Nkadimeng said he is advising Ramulongo to contact the regional director of the health department if he thinks he was ill treated.