Woman claims poor health treatment
“I was in severe pain together with the other passengers and had to wait at the health centre with blood dripping from my mouth for at least an hour,” she claimed.
Thursday 12 September 2024 | 13:26
The Interlink Shipping bus that was involved in a near fatal accident at Seaqaqa, Macuata on September 9, 2024. (left) Aruna Devi.
A woman injured in a road accident in Labasa on Monday is crying foul over medical treatment she received.
Aruna Devi, 55, who was traveling with her granddaughter in a shipping company bus involved in a collision with a sugarcane truck in Seaqaqa, Macuata, claims that the medical response following the accident was inadequate.
Ms Devi, a mother of four, was one of five passengers injured in the accident. She believes that she and the other injured passengers should have been prioritised for emergency treatment to address bleeding and pain from the accident.
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She said they (her and other injured passengers) should have been prioritised for emergency treatment to address bleeding and pain from the accident.
“The Seaqaqa Health Centre nurse told us to wait for the doctor to arrive before they could be checked for treatment,” she said.
“I was in severe pain together with the other passengers and had to wait at the health centre with blood dripping from my mouth for at least an hour,” she claimed.
She was later transferred to the Nasea Health Centre for treatment.
“At Nasea, the nurse asked me to get a ticket and wait in the queue to get checked as it was part of the process,” she said.
Ms Devi said common sense should have prevailed where the nurses should have taken them into the emergency department for treatment.
Realising the delay at the centre, she hired a taxi and got admitted at the Labasa Divisional Hospital to get her mouth cleaned and stitched from the cuts sustained.
Efforts to contact Divisional Medical Officer Northern, Dr Tiko Saumalua, for comments was made, but, were unsuccessful.
No issue with shipping company
A frequent ferry traveller, Ms Devi, said this was the first such accident she was involved in.
She did not have any issue with the shipping company and its driver because she claimed it was not the driver’s fault.
The Coqeloa Labasa resident had booked an air flight to travel to Suva following the accident.
“I am still shivering from the accident and will not be travelling by ferry anytime soon and will prefer flights,” she said.
Divisional Police Commander (DPC) North, Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Kemueli Baledrokadroka, confirmed receiving a report of the accident on Monday.
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