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Midrand Clinic frustrates residents

MIDRAND - The poor service given to members of the public at the Midrand West Clinic has been blamed on the shortage of staff.

This came to light after numerous complaints by patients that the health facility was dilapidated and patients had to spend hours in long queues waiting for assistance.

One of the patients, Cleo Strydom said, “We sit and wait in queues for hours and are forced to carry sandwiches as we know it’s going to be a slow day.”

Strydom, like many other Midrand residents, is forced to return to the clinic because she has no other alternative as she is unable to afford doctors’ consultation fees with no medical aid.

According to her, patients at the clinic not only have to wait for hours before they are seen to, but are also subjected to deplorable conditions at the clinic.

She said, “The toilets are in such a bad state that some people have to walk to Midway Mews just to use the toilet. Most of the time you won’t find toilet paper and there are only two urine cups visible that are left in the toilet, and all female patients use the same urine cup which is unhealthy.”

Director of district health services, Jabulile Shabalala-Rakosa, told Midrand Reporter that the clinic is currently staffed by five professional nurses and is supported by a session doctor ,who visits the premises on Wednesdays for four hours. Shabalala-Rakosa added,

“According to the Human Resources staffing plan, the clinic is short of two professional nurses. I also need to state that as a country we have a shortage of PHC (Primary Healthcare Nurses) trained professional nurses. We are looking at the budget allocation for 2013/14 and we will be addressing the staff shortage in the clinics on an incremental basis.”

Shabalala-Rakosa said, “I have been informed that the order to repair the toilets, male and female, had been instituted already and has been fast-tracked. The operational manger does random checks and addresses problems, if there are any. However, the operational manager sometimes has to see patients depending on the staff availability on that day.”

“Patients should not arrive early in the morning hoping to get a start on the queues. They are discouraged from coming to the clinic at 6am. The official operational hours are displayed outside the clinic and services are rendered according to stipulated times,” she added.

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