“My friend was left to die … To be poor in Africa is to have no voice, to be poor and sick in Africa is to be dead …”

This was the comment by Ms Kathryn Straughan, following the death of Ms Thimangadzo Asnath Mulaudzi (37) at Elim Hospital on October 13. Mulaudzi lay unattended for five hours and eventually died, although an emergency operation probably could have saved her life.

“Asnath was one of the kindest women I knew, a dedicated co-worker and an artist; willing, reliable, a mother of one son and a friend. I am telling her story, so that she does not just become another statistic – too easily counted and forgotten. Prior to Asnath’s death in Elim Hospital, her sister passed away in Musina Hospital and then her sister’s 13-year-old daughter died of meningitis in the same hospital after being treated for a headache. So her story is not unlike thousands of others …” says her friend, Ms Kathryn Straughan.

At 9:30 on October 12 this year, Asnath collapsed on her way to work at Handcrafted Paper just north of Louis Trichardt. Straughan rushed her to a general practitioner in Louis Trichardt.

At the surgery, she was given a number of tests including a sonar, which established that she had ovarian cysts that required immediate surgery. This was confirmed by a second doctor, as well as a specialist gynaecologist in town. The gynaecologist also stated that the cyst could be treated with the necessary emergency surgery.

At about 15:00 Kathryn, Asnath and a fellow worker arrived at Elim Hospital.

“I checked Asnath in as she was still in a wheelchair and struggling with the pain. The lady at admissions slowly chewed her chewing gum and dragged her feet between stations, casually unconcerned as to the severity of the situation.”

At casualty, the admitting male nurse read the two referral letters.

“I offered some information, but he treated me with disdain. He took Asnath’s blood pressure and temperature. He wrote on her file that the female patient was complaining of intestinal pain,” says Kathryn.

The male nurse assisted with getting Asnath onto a bed in a room down the passage and said a doctor would attend to her.

“Although I tried to insist that she needed an emergency operation, he left us,” says Kathryn.

“I went through twice to the sisters at the front desk and asked how long it would be before a doctor would see her. Both times they never looked up at me. At 15:30 I was told that there were two more patients to be attended to, both of whom were sitting in the waiting area, and that she would be the third patient.”

At 16:00, Kathryn left Elim Hospital to attend to her own three young children at home and left their co-worker to wait with Asnath.

“I called every half hour to check what was happening. I learnt that Asnath had not been checked on by anybody for all the hours that she lay there. She had no drip put in.”

A doctor finally saw Asnath just before 20:00 and she was admitted into a ward. The doctor gave her something for pain, but because she was dehydrated by then, he said he could not operate until the following day.

Early the next morning, Asnath died. Her death certificate states that she died from ovarian cancer.

“Asnath was never given the operation that could have saved her life. I contacted the Clinical Manager at Elim Hospital, who informed me that he had the right not to answer my questions when asked as to how his doctors had come to the conclusion that she had died of ovarian cancer without having performed any tests or post-mortem,” says Kathryn.

The spokesperson of the Department of Health and Social Development, Mr Selby Makgotho, this week confirmed Mulaudzi’s death on October 13.

“At 05:30, the doctor was called because the patient’s blood pressure was very low. At 06:20 the patient started vomiting, ultimately stopped breathing and was certified dead,” Makgotho said.

Makgotho said that in the patient’s file it was written that she had references from two different medical practitioners on October 12.

“The first one diagnosed her with ovarian cancer and the second one with acute abdomen,” Makgotho said.

After the death of the patient, Straughan said that her medical practitioner had confirmed that ovarian cancer had never been written on the referral letter.

Makgotho said that the hospital had lengthy discussions with the family and a post mortem examination was offered, but that the family refused.

On the question why the deceased did not receive medical attention between 15:00 and 20:00, Makgotho said that he would have to get the district manager to investigate.

“Did Asnath die in vain? Will we be able to make a difference?” Straughan asked.

In the meantime, the Democratic Alliance had taken up the death of Mulaudzi on national level as part of an attempt to improve the health system.

“We have full confidence in the public health system. We always wish to preserve life and regret that Ms Mulaudzi lost her life. It is critical that every patient should be attended to and those who do not wish to preserve lives should leave the health department,” Makgotho said. He also said that hospital officials should wear nametags and people should note the names of those treating them.