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TUESDAY 6 August 2013 | 0021 910 6500 | Fax: 021 910 6501/06 | Email: post@peoplespost.co.za | Website: www.peoplespost.co.za | Mobisite: ppost.mobi
HEALTHCARE: FACILITY UNDERSTAFFED
P atients’ p patience atience eexpir xpired ed Patients’ expired
LAILA MAJIET
Healthcare at the Mitchell’s Plain Day Hospital has flatlined. The facility has again come under fire for misplacing patients’ files, as well as issuing the incorrect medication. Patients’ frustrations are mounting – they say they are utterly fedup with the bad service. The elderly claim they are forced to put up with “rude staff”, long lines and unfair treatment and, on most occasions, they find themselves leaving the hospital “unsatisfied”. A 78-year-old resident collects his tablets each month at the health centre. The man wishes not to be named for fear of victimisation. Due to a shortage of medication, he was only given half his prescription. “They told me to come back to the facility in two weeks to collect the rest of my medication. It costs me R12 to get to and from the hospital. Sometimes when they don’t have the medication in stock we have to come back the next day and then collect our tablets in two weeks again,” he seethes. Sithembiso Magubane, the spokesperson for the provincial health department, confirms there is a shortage of tablets used to treat cholesterol and high blood pressure. “Clients are short supplied of certain drugs so that they are not sent home without vital medication. It is, therefore, better to split what is available to cater for the masses, instead of giving to a few and not have enough to give others,” he explains.
WHAT A PAIN: PAIN: The Mitchell’s Plain Day Hospital has again come under fire for poor service and issuing the wrong medication. Magubane says a substitute tablet is sometimes issued to patients, but maintains patients are given substitute medication that is appropriate for their condition after a consultation with a doctor. The health department is in the process of finding long-term solutions to the problem, says provincial health minister Theuns Botha. He has requested an investigation into the possibility for provincial government to procure medication directly “because of national government’s inability to provide stock continuously and reliably”. “The matter has been taken up
with the National Health Minister repeatedly, in writing and in discussions, but have received no response,” Botha says. Community worker Theresa Witbooi says nurses and doctors are playing God with people’s lives due to the shortage of resources. “Patients are not pharmacists. They do not know whether they are being given the correct medication. These are elderly people whose lives depend on receiving the correct treatment,” Witbooi insists. “Due to a shortage of medical resources and staff, they have to decide how to bridge the gaps in the
health system.”. A 57-year-old woman from Lentegeur spent eight hours at the day hospital recently. She had come to have blood drawn for tests. “It was a horrible experience. They send you from pillar to post.” However, Magubane refutes this. “It is unlikely that a client would be made to wait for eight hours just to have bloods taken,” he says. However, he admits a shortage of staff is hampering services at the facility. “The facility has challenges in terms of staffing due to various reasons which might include absenteeism due to leave, ill
PHOTO: LAILA MAJIET
health, training, maternity leave, high patient volumes and the addition of new services.” Dermatology services are now being offered at the hospital. A TB room has also been introduced at the facility. However, “no additional staff has been appointed,” Magubane says. The 57-year-old patient, however, had a more more pleasant experience at the facility on Thursday. “I was at the facility by 6:30 and was out before 9:30. Considering they only start tending to patients after 8:30, this was service at its best,” she says.
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