By News desk
Photo: life Brenthurst online
JOHANNESBURG – A local family has voiced deep distress over the alleged negligence, administrative hostility, and clinical failures experienced by an 18-year-old patient at Life Brenthurst Hospital. The incident, which has sparked calls for formal accountability, highlights growing frustrations with patient care standards and management ethics within private healthcare facilities.
​The patient, who prefers to remain anonymous, was admitted to the facility under the care of Dr. Motuba. According to family members, what should have been a standard medical admission quickly deteriorated into a harrowing ordeal characterised by administrative indifference and clinical delays.
​A Breakdown in the Duty of Care
​Trouble reportedly began at reception, where family members describe being met with a “rude and dismissive” attitude from frontline staff—a tone that allegedly persisted among the nursing team on duty.
​The situation escalated severely following diagnostic testing. The family alleges that the medical professional reviewing the initial X-ray failed to accurately interpret the imaging, resulting in the execution of incorrect medical procedures. Consequently, the teenage patient was left in debilitating, unmanaged pain overnight.
​Despite the patient’s worsening condition, the treating doctor was reportedly unreachable until the next morning, when the patient’s sister was forced to directly intervene and call his private office to secure medical assistance.
​Management Under Fire for “Defensive” Tactics
​While the breakdown in initial care caused immense physical distress, it was the hospital’s subsequent handling of the formal grievance that sparked the deepest outrage.
​The family logged an official complaint with the hospital’s management, hoping for an objective review and a resolution. Instead, they report being met with hostility from Nursing Manager Sister Nthabiseng Tlhone. According to the family, Sister Tlhone failed to launch a transparent investigation, choosing instead to aggressively defend her staff’s actions.
​The dispute further intensified when Sister Tlhone sent an official email to the family. Rather than addressing the systemic and clinical failures, the correspondence reportedly shifted the blame entirely onto the teenage patient for the hospital’s operational shortcomings.
​A Contradiction in Accountability
​In a stark contrast to management’s defensive stance, the patient’s treating physician, Dr. Motuba, later stepped in to de-escalate the situation. Dr. Motuba reportedly attempted to rectify the facility’s errors by providing a clear explanation of the medical timeline and offering a formal apology to the family for the nursing staff’s conduct and the serious lapses in care.
​However, the doctor’s apology has left a glaring contradiction at the heart of the institution: while the clinical lead acknowledged wrongdoing, the hospital’s nursing management continues to stand by a narrative of denial.
​The family is reportedly refusing to let the matter rest and is preparing to escalate the incident to higher regulatory bodies, including Life Healthcare Corporate, the South African Nursing Council (SANC), and the Health Professions Council of South Africa (HPCSA), to ensure independent accountability is upheld.
