The recent taxi strike has left a Strand family frustrated and worried about their loved one, who has spent the past 10 days in Tygerberg Hospital with a bullet lodged in his shoulder without receiving help due to staff shortages.
Jonaide October said his cousin Tertius October has been lying in hospital since August 6.
“On August 5, a drive-by shooting occurred in Strand during which my cousin was struck by a stray bullet in his left shoulder. He was initially taken to Strand Hospital but was later referred to Tygerberg Hospital for bullet removal surgery.
“He arrived at Tygerberg Hospital at 9am on (the) Sunday. However, when I checked on him around 7pm, he had not received any help or pain relief and seemed to be ignored. I immediately contacted the hospital.
“Around 8pm, I managed to reach two night-shift matrons. They explained the emergency area was overcrowded, with a shortage of beds and nursing staff.”
He said despite being assured that his cousin would be assisted, he still had the bullet in his shoulder.
“Around the same time, I received a response from the Western Cape government Facebook page, suggesting
I contact Tygerberg Hospital’s quality assurance manager.
“The quality assurance manager also acknowledged the overcrowded emergency area, bed shortage and nursing staff shortage.
“The quality assurance manager committed to investigating and helping Tertius. But four days later, Tertius still had the bullet in his body and is lacking communication about his operation,” October said.
Tygerberg Hospital spokesperson Laticia Pienaar said due to the community unrest and taxi strike, several services were affected. She said October was scheduled for surgery on Thursday.
“Tygerberg Hospital, as with many other hospitals, experienced a shortage of staff as they could not get to work due to the volatility within several communities. This did impact on our ability to continue normal operations, and as such, hospitals needed to prioritise the emergency units to be able to attend to the life-threatening cases.
The patient, although treated for a bullet wound, was stable and not in a life-threatening emergency.
“We understand that people may interpret a gunshot wound as being a life-threatening condition, but there are times when the person is not in a life-threatening condition as the bullet could be lodged in a place that does not pose a risk to the person’s life and can be removed at a later stage.
“The situation across the metro during the taxi strike was extraordinary and did impact our ability to render normal operations, but this did not impact on our ability of providing care to persons with life-threatening conditions.
“Mr October is scheduled for surgery on 17 August, 2023,“ Pienaar said.
Democratic Nursing Organisation of SA (Denosa) spokesperson Sibongiseni Delihlazo said: “The interruption of health-care services is always bound to disadvantage the patients. In a case where there is a shortage of staff, due to a strike as we have seen with the taxi strike in the province, that always leads to prioritisation in health-care facilities. The consequences of the unrest in the Western Cape have severely disrupted health-care services and in our case, we are still unhappy because nursing is an essential service, yet we do not see the government trying to salvage the service for our communities. We believe in these situations, essential services should be escorted in the wake of a taxi strike to ensure they arrive safely in the workplace.”
Cape Times