No food, no clothes, delayed care — patients describe poor conditions at Helen Joseph Hospital

Former broadcaster and current content producer Tom London spoke out after a distressing stay at Helen Joseph Hospital in Johannesburg, Gauteng, describing it as an experience of “the worst kind of treatment” he has ever encountered.

Other Helen Joseph patients have echoed London’s shocking revelations, highlighting broader systemic issues within state hospitals.

London was admitted to the hospital on 25 August 2024 due to fluid buildup in his lung cavity, which severely impaired his breathing. 

He took to Facebook to highlight the dire conditions he encountered. His post, which has since gone viral, detailed the lack of basic necessities such as running water in the wards, inadequate toilet facilities and persistent issues with cleanliness. 

This is Tom London (a broadcaster) in the @HelenJosephHos @GautengProvince @Lesufi @GautengHealth @HealthZA @JackBloomDA pic.twitter.com/JPvlp0q07e

— Yusuf Abramjee (@Abramjee) September 7, 2024

He criticised the medical staff for their lack of empathy, noting that many appeared indifferent to patients’ suffering. He observed staff discussing personal matters such as bonuses and leisure activities while patients endured severe discomfort.

“In the days I laid there hoping for some kind of assistance, I observed some shocking ways in which the medical staff treated us patients. Most of them don’t greet you, they never give you their names and look at patients like cockroaches.

“There were patients in worse pain than me. There was a man across the room from where I was lying; he died on Saturday. He was in that bed for hours before staff members finally removed him. I mean, how is that OK? It’s despicable behaviour,” London said. 

Harrowing accounts 

While London’s story is profoundly troubling, his experience is not unique. Many patients have faced similar challenges in state hospitals, where issues like overcrowding and inadequate staff attitudes are common. 

One patient, who asked to stay anonymous, described the conditions at Charlotte Maxeke Johannesburg Academic Hospital and Helen Joseph as “absolutely disgusting”.

“The [nursing] sisters don’t care. They laugh when you ask them for pain medication. They come up with different stories that like it is not time or they’ve run out of medication. I had a stomach issue at the time, and eventually I also had to sign a refusal of treatment form because I just couldn’t carry on with the waiting,” she said.

Although doctors do greet the patients, they face significant challenges in providing quality healthcare.

“It is a mission for them to do anything. I went for an MRI, and they said that they need to operate, and then they just keep you waiting. Eventually they told me they could only operate six months from now and obviously I couldn’t wait; I’m still battling with the same issue today,” she said.

“I had to be on oxygen. The oxygen worked, but they didn’t have the pipe and a clean mask. I wasn’t prepared to share the mask with other people [...] It’s like a never-ending story at the state hospital.”

Continuing to describe her experiences as a patient at both Charlotte Maxeke and Helen Joseph hospitals, she also recounted issues with cleanliness, insufficient linen and security concerns about sharing a ward with a male inmate.

“I had to lay on a bed where somebody had died a day before I got admitted into that bed, I could still smell everything [...] There was blood and everything around my bed.

“For me, as a female, to share a ward with a male prisoner was uncomfortable. Yes, I understand it doesn’t matter whether he committed a crime or anything, but you don’t put a female with a male in the same ward,” she said. 

“Us South Africans need to stand up for our human rights and say there is a problem at the state hospitals. There’s never enough attendance; it is a mission for doctors to see you.

“Why be a doctor if it’s a mission for them to be civil to a patient? It’s a mission for them to tell you what they find. If we turn to NHI [National Health Insurance], what’s going to happen to us? [The] majority of us are going to die,” she said.

Another source, who also requested to remain anonymous, described Helen Joseph as “an utter nightmare”, and reported frequent visits revealing severe neglect, with nurses showing little concern and basic necessities often unavailable. 

“The staff would laugh and chat behind desks, ignoring patient needs,” she said. 

She also found her friend suffering from bed sores and was told to bring her own ointment, as the hospital had none available.

“This woman was desperate to go home and was on a drip,” she added.

Inhumane state of wards

Another former Helen Joseph patient, who also requested to remain anonymous, shared their traumatic experiences with medical care. The patient, who uses “they” and “them” pronouns, described long wait times, poor hygiene conditions and racial and homophobic discrimination, including being denied food and appropriate clothing.

Despite receiving good medical care, including a successful wrist operation, they said they faced arrogant and unaccountable behaviour from some doctors, leading to a life-threatening delay in a second operation. The hospital’s physical condition was also a cause for concern, with issues such as water scarcity and poor maintenance. 

“I was a little taken aback at how bad things have become at the hospital, in terms of the degradation of the building, the staff were quite disinterested, and it took many, many, many hours to get seen. I went in at about 12 o’clock in the afternoon, and I was only seen at one the next morning, which was a very long wait,” the patient said. 

The wrist surgery was eventually done promptly and effectively, and the patient has no complaints about the procedure, but described their experience in the ward as “horrifying”. 

“I was really treated very badly by the nurses. I wasn’t actually fed. I wasn’t given any food for three days. The other patients’ food came and they got it, and I was given nothing and the more I asked for food, the more I was disregarded,” they said. 

“They wouldn’t give me anything to wear. They just kept saying they haven’t got anything. I wasn’t allowed to wear my own clothing that I’d taken with [me] because it’s against hospital policy, and yet they wouldn’t give me anything to wear.

“So going to the toilet became a massive embarrassment for me, because I had to sort of wrap things around my body to shield my nakedness from the others, and it was very difficult, because I was on a drip and I had a broken arm, and I’d had an operation and I had no food.

“It was very traumatising. The whole experience was very traumatising. Thank God I got good medical care, got a good operation and things were sterile.”

Grim conditions and water scarcity

The patient described the overall environment at Helen Joseph as grimy. While the floors were clean, the windows were filthy, obstructing visibility, and the walls were stained with unknown substances. The toilets were clean but falling apart.

“There’s a huge water problem in that hospital. There’s no access to water for patients. More than half of the toilets have been boarded up, which makes it very difficult for people to find a toilet.

“There’s very little running water at all in the hospital [...] You need water in a place where you want to keep things sterile and hygienic,” they said. 

The individual is now a regular patient due to ongoing rheumatological issues, requiring monthly visits to the rheumatology department for check-ups and medication. They have observed the hospital’s conditions firsthand and have also visited various other departments due to multiple health concerns.

“I’ve got a good insight into how the hospital is run and what happens. There is a lot of territoriality with doctors in their departments. There’s a lot of guarding of care, access to care and access to medications.

“If they like you, you’ll get your care, you’ll get your medication. If they don’t like you, you won’t get it and that can be the difference between life or death in a lot of cases,” they said.

Read more: Helen Joseph doctors speak out – ‘we won’t give up without a fight’

The individual experienced complications after the initial operation and required a second surgery to remove a problematic metal plate from their arm. Despite the urgency, the doctor refused to perform the operation, dismissing it as unnecessary.

They returned several times over a few months, desperately seeking the operation but were met with repeated delays and obstacles. After exhausting various options, they filed a formal complaint with the health department.

Only after an investigation was initiated did the hospital contact them, apologising and finally agreeing to operate. The individual was distressed by the lengthy and traumatic process required to secure the needed surgery.

“In the meantime, I was losing my fingers. I was losing the ability to use my fingers and I am a hairstylist. My hands are vitally important to me. I had to go such a lengthy and upsetting and traumatising route to get the operation. You also have got the fear that they’re going to treat you poorly because they’re upset with you.

“Luckily, that didn’t happen. I got a good operation by a good surgeon, and the team was lovely. They looked after me very, very well this time around. The nurses that I got were very nice and very helpful,” they said.

Culture of arrogance and unaccountability

As a regular patient who visits the hospital monthly and interacts with doctors every three to six months, the individual said they observed a pervasive culture of unaccountability, arrogance and superiority among the doctors. This attitude often results in subpar medical care for patients, they claimed.

“They are not held to account. There is an ineffective mechanism at the hospital, whereby one can complain about a doctor or experience, but not much is ever really done about it. I see the way the doctors behave. They are very arrogant. They really are quite arrogant.

“Look, I’m generalising. There are wonderful staff at the Helen Joseph Hospital, on all fronts, doctors, nurses, etc. They are wonderful people. They are very efficient people, but overshadowed by this general culture that is disrespectful towards the patients,” they said.

Shabir Madhi statement

Dean of the Faculty of Health Sciences at the University of the Witwatersrand, Shabir Madhi, has released a statement on the alleged poor treatment of patients at Helen Joseph:

“We are fully aware of the ailing infrastructure and the shortage of healthcare workers across most health facilities in Gauteng. We appreciate the challenging nature of working in public hospitals and we need to continue advocating for improvements in staffing and infrastructure in our public health service.

“Despite these challenges, it is incumbent on every student and staff member to respect patients, to treat them with dignity and compassion, and to engage with them in an exemplary manner.

“Of particular concern is the alleged lack of basic civility of some of our medical students, our future healthcare workers.

“It is of essence that we engage with patients in the same manner that we would want others to engage with us and our family members should we be on the receiving end of healthcare services. We therefore urge all staff and students to reflect on the oath that you took at the start of your studies, and upon graduation, to ensure that we live up to the commitments that we made and that we treat patients with dignity, compassion and respect at all times.

“Should you come across any students or staff members who do not adhere to these values, please direct these complaints to the Head of School, Prof Daynia Ballot, and the Deanery, so that they can be addressed immediately.”

Health Department’s response 

Gauteng’s MEC for Health and Wellness, Nomantu Nkomo-Ralehoko, met Helen Joseph’s management and senior departmental officials on Sunday evening to review the care provided to London.

The department said afterwards that it was confident that his clinical care was adequate, and it is open to an independent review of the care provided at the hospital.

“There are known infrastructure issues which are being attended to as part [of] the maintenance and refurbishment programme. However, these have not had a material effect on the treatment given to patients admitted at the Hospital,” the department said.

Department spokesperson Motalatale Modiba said on Sunday that nine months ago, the department launched the “I serve with a smile” campaign “aimed at improving staff attitude and patient experience of care”. This programme is currently being rolled out.

“The Gauteng Department of Health urges patients to report their complaints to the quality assurance offices located at each facility when they are not happy with the service they are receiving,” Modiba said. DM