URGENT COMPLAINT: 79-Year-Old Patient Left 9 Hours in Emergency – Life Wilgers Hospital

We brought my 79-year-old mother to the emergency unit at Life Wilgers Hospital at 16:15 pm Thursday 05 March 2026 with an urgent referral from her doctor stating she needed to be admitted.

Despite this, she remained in the emergency unit for over 9 hours and was only admitted at 01:15 am Friday morning 06 March 2026.

During this time she was placed on multiple drips, clearly requiring treatment and monitoring, yet no decision was made for hours about admitting her. After the fourth drip, the doctor requested further blood tests before deciding on the next step.

We then waited a long time for someone to draw the blood. My husband eventually had to go and ask staff to assist. Several nurses were sitting while one nurse was helping another patient, and they seemed irritated when he asked if someone could please help.

The biggest problem was the complete lack of communication. Staff walked past constantly but nobody explained what was happening or what the next step would be. My husband even spoke to the Emergency Manager, yet nothing changed and the situation was still not handled with urgency.

For a very sick elderly patient, this experience was extremely stressful and unacceptable.

We would appreciate a response from hospital management explaining how a patient with an urgent referral could wait more than 9 hours in emergency without proper communication or urgency. If necessary, we will escalate this matter through the appropriate patient complaint channels.