Roxanne B

Failing Health System

I hold Redcross Children's Hospital in a very high esteem based on passed experiences. however this time I feel that they have failed me dismally. the staff treat you with such contempt. my daughter was displaying signs of a seizure I consulted a Gp and it was alarming to him as well referred me to Redcross which I was content with due to past experiences and I have never not disclosed to them that I do have medical aid. the Dr evaluation went well I was pleased then I was admitted to the short stay ward the staff is so rude the if u ask them for any assistance it's as if you are a nuisance I had to walk around for 20 min looking for water to make a bottle whilst the key to the kitchen was less than a 2 min walk away instead they proposed I use their formula which my daughter does not drink hence I brought with her own formula. my daughter had a lumber punch. and after having a drip attached fell asleep they left this cup on my seat with medication in whilst I had to get stickers printed and because she was asleep I tried rousing her to take the medication. when the nurse checked if she took it I told her I managed to give her some , she said we'll then she won't get any more. at 5am she started crying uncontrollably and instead of them assisting they were looking at me as if I had done something wrong I just snapped. I packed our bags took my daughter and walked over to rondebosch medical center. Now the sister wants to know whats wrong andbl that this incident is going to fall on her she didnt have a problem all night rectifying her staffs behaviour because just as they are there to do their job because at this point i fail to see it as their passion im a mother that goes to work to ensure that i can provide good health care for my children.at 8:30 they called me not to ask what went wrong but rather where my daughter was and wanted to speak to the hospital staff at RMC.They called my husband to ask " if his aware that I took the child from the hospital and he said yes are they aware that their service was horrible." By then I had mo doubt in my mind that if I didn't take her to another hospital i would have been arrested on charges of neglect. The short stay ward was extremely dirty the hygiene standard ridiculous I had to run around trying to get my daughters bottle to drinking temperature. thankfully my daughter received the medical attention elsewhere but as a mother we do not involuntarily decide to leave everything and go and sit there for hours trusting that the professionals will give our children the care that they need.