Victoria Hospital - Cape Town

I've had the unfortunate opportunity to spend some time at the Victoria Hospital in Wynberg, Cape Town over the past week-end and all I can say is...

I don't really visit public hospitals and therefore I have to thank God for medical-aid! The first thing that caught my attention was the sign that read that there was a waiting period of six (6) hours. Really? Yes really, that part is actually true although it depends on the severity of the incident / wound. I witnessed a woman who came in with an open wound above her left eye, she was off-balance, swaying and being held up by another woman go straight through and emerge about 10 to 15 minutes later with the wound bandaged (or her head bandaged for that matter).

The staff were helpful and friendly which was quite welcome on a Friday evening at a hospital - starting with the administrator at sign-in, the nurses and even the security officers. There was a Doctor with an attitude but I discovered later that it was his way of being nice, you know the kind who have a weird sense of humor... like me. They had wall-mounted heaters that were switched on and no, there's nothing wrong with that especially in the middle of Winter but it was so stuffy in there that I eventually pulled the string attached to the fan mounted on the wall. It was amazing when that air hit me in the face - it was good, real good.

The smell in there was terrible and I found it quite refreshing to get some fresh air outside every 10 to 15 minutes. It was a bit difficult to understand how people could eat in an area that was obviously very unhygienic but they ate and drank and I wondered if it was only my sisters' and I who could smell the stench in that waiting area. The hospital had a lady cleaning i.e. mopping the floor but I was still concerned that I was going to leave with some or other germ. We were out of there after about three hours, so no luckily there was no six hour wait for us. 

I have to thank the medical staff because I don't think that they receive the appreciation that they deserve - it takes a strong person to work at a public hospital and not many people are able to do that - so here's to those special few, thank you ladies and gentlemen for your outstanding work!