Needle shortage solved – dept
Clinics in the city couldn't help patients who needed injections on Tuesday and Wednesday, as needle stocks were depleted.
POLOKWANE – Clinics in the city couldn’t help patients who needed injections on Tuesday and Wednesday, as needle stocks were depleted.
Patients who went to the clinic for family planning were turned away by the nurses because they could not help them.
One woman who went to Rethabile Clinic on Tuesday afternoon for family planning purposes, was turned away as nurses told her they did not have needles.
When she asked about a return visit, nurses told her they couldn’t say exactly when needles would be delivered.
Nurses told her they had to cope with shortages of most essential items at the clinics, she claimed.
“I could not believe what the nurses where telling me. How can a clinic that big not have injections for people? How are we supposed to get our injections? If I don’t not have money to pay for a family planning injection, where will I get it?”
A nurse that was on duty on Tuesday at Rethabile Clinic said it was not only Rethabile that struggled with shortages.
“People come from Seshego and Beit Clinic because they are also turned away due to a shortage of needles.
“They come here hoping that we might help them, but we turn them away as well because we do not have any needles. We do not know when we will get more needles,” she said.
Department of health spokesperson, Adéle van der Linde, confirmed the needle shortage on Tuesday, saying deliveries would be made by Wednesday (yesterday).
It seems that planning and ordering of stock seemed at the core of the problem.
“It is important for pharmacists to communicate with their counterparts in hospitals and clinics when they experience such shortages to ensure that they do not run into a dire situation.
“There is stock at the depot and an additional supply of needles will be delivered to Rethabile.
“Women who were turned away, must please visit the clinic again.
“We once again encourage the public to make use of the MEC’s Hotline to report shortages of medication or surgicals at clinics and hospitals by dialling the toll free number 0800 91 91 91 during office hours,” Van der Linde said.
