MBOMBELA – Suggestion boxes at public health facilities are not being read. This is according to Ms Jane Sithole, DA. She listed the boxes at the Nelsville and Valencia clinics as not having been opened for a year due to lost keys. She said the Nelspruit Community Health Centre’s boxes had never been operational due to them lacking padlocks.
She also claimed the clinic committees of White River and Umjindi documented the contents of the boxes monthly, but were waiting for feedback from the department on complaints lodged. Her party found that the sister in charge of complaints at Rob Ferreira Hospital ran three other departments as well.
“These patient comment boxes are meant to be used to guide health facilities to improve the services they render to communities,” Sithole said. “What is the purpose of having these boxes if they are never opened, keys are missing, no one is attending to the complains, and with no committees in many clinics to consider the suggestions and complaints?”
The matter was debated before being rejected. Mr Pat Ngomane, ANC MPL, said the boxes were a very important channel of communication between the people and government.
“The Department of Health has indicated that even if they are not at 100 per cent, they are improving in dealing with these issues.”
Sithole pointed out that their former motion urging the department to ensure that the suggestion and complaint boxes at public health facilities were made operational, had previously been rejected on March 31.
- Read more on the health department here.
