Clinic staff turn away baby
MIDRAND - A woman from Midrand has complained about how she was turned away at the Midrand West Clinic.
The woman, whose name has been withheld because she frequents the clinic, said, “I took my baby to the clinic and the nurses told me to go back home because they no longer do vaccinations after 12pm. I told the nurse that I work in Pretoria and had taken a half-day off at work and could not come the following day.
“The nurse called the clinic manager who told me that the clinic now does immunizations between 8am and 12pm. I was turned away even though I did not know of the time changes.”
She added, “I now have to ask for more time off work and take my child to another clinic. As a working mother time is valuable, we need clinic staff to be aware that coming to the clinic is one of the things we have to do, not the only thing. The clinic changed the times but they did not put up a notice on the wall to tell patients on time.”
Another patient, who also wanted to remain anonymous, said, “We arrive at the clinic at 6am and spend the whole day there and watch as nurses walk up and down and when they finally see patients they take a very long time with a patient. I am here for treatment for pneumonia. Sitting for hours outside the clinic for hours makes me worse.”
Nkosinathi Nkabinde, City of Johannesburg group communications officer said, “It is unacceptable that a patient can be turned away, especially for vaccinations. Those are key in a child’s health. We will investigate the matter and find out what brought about those changes. We would like to advise the patients to ask to speak to the clinic manager if they have grievances, instead of always rushing to the newspapers.”
