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An Eastern Cape woman and her family are demanding answers from the health department after an unfortunate series of events that took place more than a year ago left her with life-altering injuries from an operation.
In 2023, 42-year-old Nomveliso Nqeketho from Mqwangqweni in Ngqeleni was pregnant with her second child and attended regular antenatal appointments at her local clinic. However, in December, in her final month of pregnancy, her feet and face started swelling, and she decided to visit Canzibe Hospital, the closest hospital to her home. She was kept there for four days before being transferred to Nelson Mandela Academic Hospital in Mthatha.
That was when her painful journey began.
“When I arrived [at Nelson Mandela Hospital], I was told that my unborn baby had died inside my womb, and my womb was also damaged,” Nomveliso recalls. “I was then informed that I would need an operation to remove the baby and my womb.”
Post operation, Nomveliso remained at the hospital, under observation by nurses. A few days later, she was discharged with instructions to attend follow-up check-ups at Nolitha Clinic, which is closer to her home. Once home, Nomveliso was in pain but thought it was part of the post-op recovery process and was normal. However, during her check-ups, nurses noticed that she was not healing properly: there was urine leaking from the surgical site. There was no clear information on her medical records about what had happened to her, so the nurses referred her back to Nelson Mandela Hospital.
At the hospital, Nomveliso received shocking news.
“I was told that they would need to reopen me to investigate the problem. I overheard a nurse saying that a pair of scissors had been left inside me. They suspected that it had been forgotten during my earlier operation. I had to undergo a second operation.”
After spending over a month at Nelson Mandela Hospital, Nomveliso was discharged in early January 2024. She had hoped that her painful journey was over, but it was not.
“I thought I could finally mourn the loss of my child, who had passed away and was buried while I was in the hospital. However, my struggles continued. I have been experiencing incontinence, and I am in constant pain. It is embarrassing, and I have to use adult nappies, which costs me around R500 per month. I also have to care for my 8-year-old child,” Nomveliso says, visibly heartbroken.
No improvement
Over a year has passed, and Nomveliso’s health has not improved.
She and her family have many unanswered questions. Linda Nqeketho, Nomveliso’s elder sister, shares their concerns.
“We feel that the Department of Health is hiding information from us. We want to know why there is no record of what really happened to Nomveliso on her medical records. We want to know at what stage her baby died, as she never missed any antenatal appointments. We want to know what damaged her womb, and why she never received an apology for the scissors left inside her. We also want to know what is causing her incontinence and what went wrong during her operation.”
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The Eastern Cape Department of Health spokesperson, Sizwe Kupelo, forwarded the matter to the quality assurance department. Msa Jubase from Quality Assurance at Nelson Mandela Hospital responded, stating that they would investigate the matter and revert with information, and they would also schedule a meeting with the family.-Health-e News
