Bad practice

I took my daughter, Alnique Bandat, to Unitas emergency services around 13h30 on 20 January 2025. We got there and was approached by a Dr Practice Name: Dr Gouws Serfontein Venter & Ass Inc - Unitas Hospital.

From the start the Dr came off as inpatient and rude. He asked us what the problem was, and I started to explain. My daughter started getting sick on Wednesday, 15 January 2025. She was vomiting and complained of pain in her gut area. Thursday, 16 January 2025, she didn’t want to eat because she still had pain and felt nauseous.

She eventually ate and just a few minutes later started vomiting again and was in a lot of pain. The vomiting didn’t stop, and the pain became excruciating. Friday morning, 17 Jan, around 1am, I found her passed out on the bathroom floor. I woke her up and told her to go to bed but she could hardly walk as the pain was so severe. I had to almost carry her back to bed. She continued vomiting but I gave her a bucket so that she wouldn’t need to run to the bathroom. Friday morning at around 09h00 I took her to Medicross at Saxby in Centurion, where we consulted by a Dr. She looked at my daughter and explained that this might not be a stomach virus and because of her, Alnique’s, severe pain she suspects that it’s her Appendix. She also told me that if the pain and vomiting doesn’t get better, I need to take her to the Emergency Unit as if that would then most likely be her Appendix. By Sunday, 19 January 2025, during the course of the day she started feeling sick again. Monday, 20 January, I took her to Unitas Emergency ward where we were consulted by a Dr,

The Dr, as I explained, was impatient and as I was talking, he kept interrupting me by cutting me of mid-sentence with another question. He made it very clear that he doesn’t want to talk to me, he wants to talk to my daughter. My daughter is very shy and has ADHD and doesn’t want to talk to people. She gets nervous and can sometimes leave out crucial information hence one of the reasons for her being home schooled. The Dr informed me that he will put her on a drip to stop the vomiting and pain. She was then taken for a scan where the results came back that she’s constipated. I was very upset about this result as I’m her mother and I know my child. She has Celiac Disease and I’m used to her struggling with constipation issues. I have a ******* colon, so we have adapted our live style and diet accordingly, to avoid constipation and gut problems.

I asked to speak to the Dr because for me it didn’t make sense that constipation would end up with her passed out on the bathroom floor. We eat healthy and exercise regularly. I make sure that both of us eat a diet with a lot of fibre and water, to avoid constipation.

The Dr came back to her bed and I expressed my confusion and, at that point, anger because the Dr decided to release her.! I got so upset that I said ‘I don’t accept this result because it doesn’t ****ing make sense’ and then this Dr immediately started attacking me saying “O look how quickly your attitude change!!! He was very rude and insulting. I have every right to be angry, and saying a cuss word has never been against the law. I made it clear that I no longer wanted to speak to him, but he continued to attack me verbally.

He is extremely unprofessional, and I don’t even want to start at his complete lack of ‘bedside manner’

This is not a good Dr. He is the type of Dr that gives other good Drs a bad reputation. He was clearly not really in the mood to help us, because there were more things he could have done, but instead he laughed at our situation and then told us that we can go home. If the diagnoses were constipation, that’s fine, I will accept that but only if he actually did his job to make 100% sure that, that was the diagnosis.

My Appendix acted up when I was 10yrs old. Everything that happened to my daughter, happened to me. My mother also found me passed out in the hallway, because I was in so much pain I couldn’t get to my room. I was rushed to hospital where the Drs also did scans and blood work and found me constipated, but instead of just sending me home, they wanted to make 100% sure. I was giving an enema and when my colon was cleaned-out, they did some more scans and then realised that my Appendix needs to be removed ASAP. I was operated on a few minutes after the scans.

This Dr is rude, arrogant and entitled. He should have done more. He should have done his job.