In the central district hospital of the Zhanarka village in the Ulytau region, a 42-year-old mother of many children, Gulnur Zhuanyshbayeva, died during an operation to remove her appendix.
According to KTK, the woman's relatives claim that the medical staff did not carry out the necessary preliminary tests, including for possible allergic reactions.
It has become known that the operation was scheduled after the patient was admitted with abdominal pain. Relatives of the deceased report that before the procedure, Gulnur was found to have high blood sugar levels and an inflammatory process, but anaesthesia was administered without proper pre-operative preparation.
After the injection, the woman suffered an acute reaction — anaphylactic shock, followed by a coma and cerebral oedema. The patient died shortly afterwards. Gulnur Zhuanyshbayeva leaves behind a husband and four children. The youngest child is three years old. The deceased's relatives intend to take the medical staff to court.
"There were 4-5 hours before the operation; the patient was conscious. She could have been transferred to Karaganda, because we don't have the facilities here. The hospital doesn't have blood gas analysis cartridges, the CT scanner isn't working, and there are no basic consumables like sodium chloride or calcium chloride. They themselves note this in the documents. How can this be the case in a central district hospital?! This is negligent behaviour," said the deceased's brother, Maksat Kaskatayev.
According to residents of the Zhanarka settlement, tragedies at the local hospital are not unprecedented. A year ago, a similar fatal case following an appendectomy occurred with the son of another local woman, Meruert Tamabekova.
"Exactly a year ago, my son also died in this same hospital after an appendectomy. What kind of hospital is this, where they can't even treat something basic?! We've complained so many times before; we wrote to the regional health department, to the ministry. They don't care about us. This man's wife has just died, and another woman's son was born with a disability. What more needs to happen for them to see this mess?!" the woman said.
According to the villagers, the clinic has systemic problems: a shortage of qualified staff, broken equipment, unsuitable conditions for storing medicines, and high temperatures in the wards, especially in intensive care.
Some patients prefer to travel hundreds of kilometres to Zhezkazgan or Karaganda — just to avoid being treated in Zhanarka.
For his part, the deputy head of the Ulytau region health department, Yerkebulan Beisembayev, promised to restore order at the facility.
"Today we brought in a new director, a young one. Now, going forward, we hope that such cases will not be allowed to happen at this clinic. The health department is working hard to get this clinic into order. We are currently dealing with staffing. Within two months, we will try to fully staff this clinic," the statement said.
Following the death of Gulnur Zhuanyshbayeva, in addition to the director, his deputy, the surgeon and the anaesthesiologist have also been suspended from work. Regional and national health authorities are now arriving at the hospital for inspections.
For context, in July 2023, a local resident, Meruert Aulbayeva, sought help at the Balkhash clinic complaining of abdominal pain. After undergoing operations, the patient died from multiple organ failure.
The case regarding the woman's death was sent to court only a year and a half after the tragedy. During this time, several forensic medical examinations were carried out, which confirmed the medical staff's guilt. The latest forensic medical examination once again confirmed the causal link between the actions of the medical staff and the fatal outcome.