KEMPTON Park clinics are running short on certain medicines.
After waiting for hours at Birchleigh Clinic two weeks ago, a resident had to leave without her high blood pressure tablets (Pharmapress).
Colette van der Merwe of Birchleigh said her pensioner mother is living with her. “She only has her government money each month and suffers from high blood pressure. It is life-threatening if she does not take her medication, so when we found out there was no stock, I was very upset. We do not have a medical aid or money to buy the tablets from a pharmacy.”
Van der Merwe’s mother waited in the queue for four hours until one of the sisters informed her there were no more tablets because of a shortage.
“We just want to warn the community so they don’t make the same mistake as us,” said Van der Merwe.
Eunice Steenekamp, senior manager of health at Kempton Park Civic Centre Clinic, said: “All clinics are experiencing problems with a shortage of medication. The smaller clinics receive their medication as requested but not in the full quantities.
“For example, where a clinic needs 700 units of a specific medication, they will only supply 200 units. Patients who do not receive their original medication can ask the staff for the generic version or another brand of the same medicine,” she said.
EXPRESS is waiting for official comment from the metro’s health department.
