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Cape Town - "What do we pay for?" asks a Fin24 user after she had a bad experience at a private hospital.
She is one of a number of Fin24 users - including staff, doctors and patients - who have come forward to share their perspective of the debate on the high cost of private hospital care.
"Why do we pay for an entire pack of - for instance swabs - when only one item was used?" asks this user.
She was in ICU some time ago after a major operation. She had morphine in a measured drip. By midnight the pain had become unbearable, so she called the night nurse for assistance.
READ: Illegal practices horrify ICU nurse
"Two nurses arrived. Neither understood the extra pain killers by my bedside. They told me to choose which one of the two different types to take," she says.
This was after they had explained to her that not taking pain killers when in severe pain could cause her to stop breathing and that she could also stop breathing when taking too many pain killers.
"So, we pay a fortune and when you are in need you have to make your own life or death decision," she concludes.
Another Fin24 user writes that she was recently admitted to a private hospital in the Boland prior due to asthma.
"Initially I received the worst ever treatment from the entire team - except for three nurses who really tried - and I was also given my private medication to take on my own. Only after four days did they get their act in together," she says.
"A tonne of bricks for them - sorry no bouquet."
READ: Two sides to private hospital care
Two more Fin24 users write to say they are not impressed with private hospital care.
Thabs says "it is really unfair to pay a lot of money for 10% of treatment. Some of the nurses maltreat patients", while Iqbal thinks private hospitals and medical aid are rip-offs due to lack of controls.
ALSO READ: Opting for no medical aid, state hospitals
- Fin24
Disclaimer: All articles and letters published on MyFin24 have been independently written by members of the Fin24 community. The views of users published on Fin24 are therefore their own and do not necessarily represent those of Fin24.
