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COVID-19 SCARE: DOCTORS, NURSES SHUN WARD 18

19/03/2020 09:24:00 Sithembile Hlatshwayo

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MBABANE – Close to 20 patients admitted to Ward 18 of the Mbabane Government Hospital were caught in a ‘crossfire’ following the admission of a patient suspected to have contracted COVID-19.

Nurses and doctors reportedly withdrew themselves from providing services, abandoning the patients without providing the routine check-ups and medication for them on Tuesday evening and yesterday morning. Due to the seriousness of the situation, the kitchen and cleaning staff also withdrew themselves, resulting in the patients having nothing to eat for the better part of the day. The patient was reportedly admitted to the ward on Tuesday afternoon and remained there until yesterday at around 9:30am when she was whisked away by nurses who were wearing full protective gear to the hospital’s wellness unit. The patient was admitted to the ward much to the detriment of the other patients who had been admitted there.
What raised suspicions that this could be a COVID-19 patient was that doctors came into the ward after the patient had been admitted and engaged in a lengthy conversation in hushed tones.

Curtains

They then pulled the curtains surrounding the patient’s bed and left. This did not sit well with the other patients who had been monitoring the movements of both the nurses and doctors. As soon as the doctors left the ward, nurses swiftly followed suit. All this happened at around 2pm and late in the evening, they still had no nurse or doctor checking on them. Information gathered was that at the time of going to print, the medical staff had not returned as per the norm to do their rounds and administer medication to the patients. Eswatini has one confirmed case of the COVID-19 while neighbouring South Africa has recorded about 116.

A visit by this reporter, to the hospital ward yesterday morning uncovered that the suspected patient had not been removed in the ward until at around 9.30am and was moving freely from her bed, which was only enclosed with curtains. Some of the people looking after their relatives in the ward found themselves assuming the duties of nurses as they had to assist most of the patients with going to the rest rooms, among other things. An elderly woman suspected to be a sugar diabetes patient was among those who fell victim to the health workers’ service withdrawal as she had to be assisted when her condition seemingly worsened. The worst part was that the elderly woman had no one looking after her.

In an interview with those looking after their relatives, they expressed disappointment in the manner in which the medical staff handled the matter of the suspected COVID-19 patient. According to them, the least that the medical staff could have done was communicate the state of affairs inside the ward. “At least we would have made a choice on what to do instead of increasing chances of contracting the coronavirus from the suspected case,” they said. They said they were traumatised by the situation and needed to be counselled and tested if possible. “All along we have been seeing this afar and now it has happened next to us. This suspected patient spent so many hours with us in the ward and was moving freely.”

They stated that if ever the case turned out positive, most of them would become victims. The patients in the ward further expressed that they wanted to be discharged and return home as the hospital staff had neglected them. Meanwhile, they raised concern of the high death rate inside the ward, something they said was traumatising, especially with the now suspected COVID-19 patient. “There were two deaths this (yesterday) morning,” they said. They also expressed disappointment that the hospital staff was only concerned about their safety and were not bothered about them and their sick relatives.

Consensus

Swaziland Democratic Nurses Union (SWADNU) President Bheki Mamba said consensus on the matter had not been reached between nurses and senior management. Mamba said the challenge was that management admitted the suspected COVID-19 patient to Ward 18 allegedly knowing very well that she had presented symptoms of the virus. He said he was informed by the medical personnel from the Mbabane Government Hospital that doctors who admitted the patient had high suspicions that she had contracted COVID-19 but continued to admit her.
The president said when getting the explanation, it became apparent that the hospital had not prepared any isolation for suspected cases. “It shows that the hospital was not ready for receiving such a patient,” said Mamba.

He stated that yesterday morning, the healthcare workers discovered that the suspected patient had possibly exposed those admitted to the same ward as she was not supposed to be there in the first place. Mamba said due to the seriousness of the matter, the healthcare workers then resolved to down tools as there was no protective equipment including gloves, masks, sanitizers or anything else that could prevent them from being exposed to infection. The president said what was unfortunate was that no agreement had been reached on how the staff would get the protective clothing. “Management is not coming out clear on when the protective gear would be available. It is worse because we are talking of a health institution that has to respond to the COVID-19 emergency but does not even have masks,” he stated.

Mamba said healthcare workers therefore feared for their lives and could not work without protective equipment. He encouraged government to try and address the situation, which was a state of emergency. “Currently, the situation at the hospital is worse from what it was before.” However, Mamba mentioned that he was happy that the situation had turned out to be what it was because on Tuesday, when they engaged in a protest march over protective gear, it seemed as though they were exaggerating things. This, he said, went to show how serious the issue was, especially because even the medical doctors were failing to execute their duties. When reached for comment, the Director of Health Services, Dr Vusi Magagula, said he was awaiting management to give him a full report on the suspected COVID-19 case admission to the ward. Magagula said the senior management of the hospital was locked in a meeting and he was expecting feedback. At the time of compiling this report, he had not given this reporter any feedback.