Editor
My opinion on the page two article of the Estcourt News dated February 20, ‘Patients says she was shunned by clinic staff’. With the present inevitable change in health care facilities, there is bound to be such incidents however, staff must avoid it turning into disastrous outcomes.
The Manager at Forderville Clinic, I know her to be a very good manager however, mistakes do happen and with such a load of clients and limited staff, one cannot imagine what might have happened if that client collapsed on her way to the doctor’s surgery.

 
Clients are demanding, it is true but it is wrong to shift responsibility by saying they should take decisions for each other’s priorities depending on their health status. The issued numbers are alright but let there be a rapid appraisal like it used to be, so as to pick up priority clients according to how urgent the condition is. The Manager should build trust between clients and herself.

 
Clients will trust her decisions if there is rapport. She can do that by always being accessible, welcoming and listening to their challenges.
There is no way they will doubt her decisions when she makes them. The clinics and hospitals are not to be likened to other services like the banks, Home Affairs or SASSA. The government must also consider this shortage of staff in health departments, with such a great load of patients and a lot of clerical work for professional nurses.

 
At one time at Forderville, there were a lot of nurses, I realised they were all new and needed orientation, the only senior professional nurse who was there was close to tears trying to help clients and orientate the new nurses. I did not say anything but asked them where they were from. The community must please bear with the nurses, it is a very stressful situation for them, but nurses should not forget that they are responsible and accountable for their actions.
RS Sithole