09 Feb 2014

Tati Siding clinic nurses have been accused of having negative attitudes towards their work by the residents.   

The residents made the accusations during a Health Pitso called by the District Health Management Team (DHMT) in Tati Siding on  February 7. They alleged that the spirit of Botho was lacking at the clinic to extend that patients would remain in long queues without any communication from the nursing staff, except to see them moving up and down the corridors.

A resident, Ms Motlalepula Waniwa lamented that although they had two doctors at the clinic who worked on shifts, the doctors attended to patients on Tuesdays and Thursdays only.

“This arrangement lead to long queues, where patients spend almost the whole day waiting to be attended to by the doctors, unless on emergency cases,” she said.

This, she noted, had led to complaints and conflicts among the patients because of lack of communication on the side of the nursing staff to explain to them the delays and as to why the doctor had to leave them and attend other patients.

She further noted that some patients were even afraid to seek clarification on prescriptions or on which side to go because often the way the staff responded would make a person regret why they had made an inquiry.

Sharing similar sentiments was the area councillor, Ms Ruth Dlodlo, who added that long queues at the clinic, particularly on the days in which the doctors attend to out-patients is a serious concern in that some other patients end up giving up on seeing the doctor.

Cllr Dlodlo noted that although Tuesdays and Thursdays are scheduled for out- patients to be attended to by the doctors, priority is given to those who had booked and this disadvantages those who come to the clinic on those days without appointments.

Responding to the concerns, DHMT coordinator, Dr Retta Ayele said they called Health Pitso to get feedback on services the residents receive at the clinics.

Dr Ayele promised the residents that as of next week Monday, the doctors are going to attend to all patients though out the week and not on certain days. He said the clinic should not be experiencing any delays because it has seven registered nurses, 10 midwifes and two doctors.

He therefore noted that it shows that there is poor supervision at the clinic and as such they are going to intensify supervision on the part of management of the clinic to improve the standards of service with everybody being taken to task.

Dr Ayele further stressed that they have also as management of the district, received concerns with regard to patients referred to other clinics to get prescriptions on their own.  This, he said, is not supposed to be the case and explained that nurses or pharmacists should inquire and acquire medication on behalf of the patient.

He therefore promised them to have a routine check on the standards of service at the clinic. ENDS