TB hospital staff members really do go the extra mile

Contrary to popular beliefs that patients are neglected in public hospitals and do not receive the right care, Barberton TB Specialised Hospital staff demonstrated that they did good deeds for their patients every day.

This came after workers showed their compassion this past Wednesday by donating groceries and clothes to two needy patients who had been admitted.

Social worker, Lorraine Malchaba was touched by the extreme poverty Sandile Mdhluli of Jeppes Reef in Nkomazi and Lucas Thumbu of Sheba Siding in Umjindi, lived in. She said signs of starvation was everywhere when she recently conducted her routine visit to their respective homes.

“Usually, when we discharge our patients, we assist them to apply for social grants to ease their financial burden of having to rely on handouts. But in this case, it is difficult because both of them don’t have identity documents. I had to ask the hospital CEO Miyelani Matobela and staff to assist with financial donations from their own pockets,” said Malchaba.

Mdhluli was discharged this past Monday while Thumbu had been discharged in June. Mdhluli expressed their gratitude at the staff’s spirit of generosity.

Matobela lauded his staff for the great job they had done. “Though the staff was tasked primarily to carry out daily kindness towards patients, it was also our responsibility to develop strategise how to impact positively patients’ lives once they had been discharged. The general public doesn’t seem aware of our role as patients’ advocates. We will continue with related projects to help us forge strong and beneficial relationships with the entire community,” said Matobela.