Vital medical files are routinely lost or misplaced at East London’s Frere Hospital, forcing doctors to treat chronically ill patients without access to their full medical history.
The Eastern Cape health department has admitted ongoing problems with file management, where delays in treatment, repeated consultations and absent medical histories have become routine.
In one case, a 63-year-old heart patient has been issued four replacement files after her folder, which detailed past invasive procedures, disappeared.
A 73-year-old diabetic and heart disease patient is still waiting for cataract surgery after her folder went missing in February, leaving specialists unable to continue treatment.
A Frere Hospital nurse confirmed the filing system had been an issue for years, which meant in some cases patients were not treated.
“Some doctors have difficulties keeping records of their patients’ medical histories as the folders are always missing. This delays the process for those who need surgery,” she said.
A video circulating on social media shows piles of hospital folders scattered on the floor.
People shared their experiences of how they had renewed their folders several times. One patient said they were on their ninth file this year.
“Doctors have to repeat tests and waste resources.
“My dad’s file has been missing since 2013.”
Another person told how their son’s road accident fund claim could not be processed because the hospital lost his file.
Two elderly patients with chronic conditions have faced delays in treatment after their files were either lost or misplaced.
A 63-year-old Parkside woman, who did not want to be named, said the delay was endangering her life, as her original folder contained vital information about various invasive treatments she’d had was missing.
She is a heart attack survivor and said she had not had any clarity on what had happened to her folder.
“The carelessness at Frere Hospital is putting my life in danger. I have now been issued a fourth replacement file.
“Every time I go, they just look at me and say, ‘Sorry Sisi, we can’t find your folder.’ That’s it.”
Last week, the pensioner was rushed to Frere with intense chest pains.
“All the new folder said was ‘patient with heart condition’. There was no history, no notes about my medication, nothing.
“They gave me some tablets and a script to get more tablets at my own expense and sent me home a few hours later.”
She said the hospital’s negligence was life-threatening.
“Frere is playing with our health; they are playing with our lives.”
Another patient, aged 73, was told in February she was due for cataract surgery, but since her file went missing the same month, she has been left in limbo with no clarity or communication about her surgery.
“I’ve been a patient of the hospital for more than two decades. I suffer from several chronic illnesses, including heart disease, diabetes, high blood pressure, and crippling arthritis, all of which was documented in the lost folder.”
She said the folder contained all the notes on her various treatments, cardiologists’ evaluations and all the details of her chronic care.
“I’m now on my third replacement folder since February. Before my file disappeared, I was diagnosed with cataracts. Doctors also suspected glaucoma caused by diabetes, and planned further investigation.
“But after the folder went missing, the ophthalmologist just prescribed more eye drops.”
She said the last time she saw her original folder was when it was sent to the dispensary and never returned.
“My treatment is supposed to take everything into account ... now it feels like they are just guessing. It feels like I am being stitched together with patches.”
Provincial health spokesperson Siyanda Manana said the department was aware of the complaints.
“Frere Hospital now operates on a hybrid system for managing patient records, combining both manual and electronic processes.”
The hospital was migrating to a fully electronic health record (EHR) system.
“The department recognised the need to go electronic and it is doing exactly that.”
However, the transition appeared to be slow, with patients continuing to experience disruptions.
Asked about accountability for hospital management over the recurring problems, Manana said the matter would be investigated further.
One troubling factor identified by the department was the theft of patient files.
“In some instances files are being stolen for fraudulent medical claims,” Manana said.
He said human resource shortages were not a significant factor in the hospital’s record management challenges.
Manana said the department had introduced an annual recruitment plan that sought to balance clinical and administrative personnel needs.
While Manana did not provide a specific timeline or the exact budget for the digitisation of records at Frere Hospital, he confirmed electronic systems were being rolled out at hospitals across the province.
Asked if other hospitals experienced similar challenges to those at Frere, Manana said public hospitals faced high expectations.
“Complaints are received because we are held to a high standard, so there is an expectation that we are supposed to deliver an excellent service.”
DA MPL and health portfolio committee member Jane Cowley said she had raised the matter in the committee.
“The reality is staff shortages have resulted in filing systems not being sufficiently managed or secured. This opens the department up for further loss of patient information ... from which they are unable to recover.”
Cowley said while the transfer to digital systems was intended to keep files more secure, the “complete failure” of the premier’s office to roll out broadband across the province meant many hospitals did not even have access to the internet. .
A provincial government statement, dated July 31, said digitisation rooms had been established in 11 hospitals, with electronic data interfaces activated for 41 hospitals.
St Patrick’s Hospital in Bizana had received a “Phase 2 Digitisation Centre and Bhisho Hospital is expected to follow suit”.
In a January 2021 report on the digitisation drive, department head Dr Rolene Wagner said they were building “a virtual hospital” through a web-based electronic health software solution known as HMS², which would save them money as the department owned the project’s source code.
Daily Dispatch
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