A COMPLAINT that a woman with elephantiasis was refused treatment at a Port Elizabeth hospital was baseless, the Eastern Cape health department says

"The thick medical file clearly indicates that she's been taken care of throughout," spokesman Sizwe Kupelo said.

Pamela Maxhanti, 37, claimed she was turned away from the Livingstone specialist hospital last week without treatment for elephantiasis-related open wounds and severe pain and swelling.

Kupelo said Maxhanti was admitted to Livingstone on January 8 and was started on treatment the following day.

On her discharge on January 24 she was given a follow-up appointment to see a doctor at the Port Elizabeth provincial hospital on February 13.

But Kupelo said she missed the appointment and because she could not be seen, she was re-directed back to the Livingstone hospital.

"In Livingstone she was given treatment."

Maxhanti was given numerous medicines for chronic pain, inflammation and open wounds.

"These items are confirmed in her folder. The medical opinion is that her condition cannot be cured, but only managed."

Elephantiasis is a disease that affects the skin and tissue and is caused by parasitic worms.