Rectifications made at Edenvale clinic after complaint

EDITOR – I am writing to complain about the extreme inefficiency of Edenvale Clinic.

It is a painful and frustrating visit to the clinic for any person because of the extreme lack of interest by most staff members. Patients wake up early to catch transport to be on time at the clinic, only to be advised that the doctor is not there, or they must just wait.

My domestic assistant has taken her little girl to the clinic on many occasions for vaccinations and on occasion for tummy problems or a cough. She arrives early in the morning so that she doesn’t have to wait in the long queue and has to sit and wait sometimes for four to six hours before they attend to her.

The rest of the patients also sit there for hours on end. Surely the staff have compassion for these mothers with tiny babies who need to get home after their child has been attended to?

On March 16 my domestic had an appointment for 8am to see the optician. She caught her transport early and arrived well before the time at 7.30am only to be advised by the staff that the optician no longer practises at the clinic, and a new optician will be appointed soon.

The clinic had all her information and telephone numbers and could have advised her that the appointment was cancelled prior to her making her way to the clinic. Bearing in mind she has her child with her, whom she had to wake up early in order to catch a taxi.

She then had an appointment for 2pm the same day for the immunisation of her two-year-old and whilst she was there in the morning and the clinic could not keep the appointment for the optician, my domestic requested that her child be immunised whilst she was there.

The clinic advised that she would have to return at 2pm.

My question is, why could they not immunise the child then? Here she has been inconvenienced firstly by the clinic, and then they are not even prepared to help her and she had to wait for six hours for a few drops of immunisation?

There were other patients who also arrived at the clinic early in the morning only to be told then that the optician no longer practises at the clinic and they were waiting for a new optician to come through, but were not sure when this would take place.

The other patients were extremely annoyed. Does anyone in the health department or Ekurhuleni Council ever go and inspect what goes on in the clinic? I am quite sure no employee of the health department would ever go and sit for hours on end at the Edenvale Clinic, or catch early transport with their child to get to the clinic on time only to be turned away.

The staff also go on tea breaks and do not make arrangements for other staff to fill in whilst they are relaxing with a lovely cup of tea and coffee. No, they take their tea, coffee and lunch break and the patients have to just wait for them to return.

Never any rush from the staff except when it is close to home time. Only then do they start putting speed into everything. My domestic was given Wormstop for her two-year old daughter, with absolutely no directions for the dosage. Because it was near home time they basically told her, “Give it to your daughter.” I now have to look up on Google the dosage on Wormstop. My domestic’s clinic card for her daughter, which should be completed each time the clinic immunise her, has not been completed when she had her 18 month immunisation. If my domestic had to present this to the crèche they would not accept her little girl. Inefficiency once again. Should there be an extremely ill patient requiring emergency treatment I wonder what sort of priority treatment they would receive at Edenvale Clinic?

FED UP EDENVALE RESIDENTS.

EDITOR’S COMMENT – The Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Municipality spokesperson, Mr Themba Gadebe, commented as follows:

Regarding the March 16 appointment, optometry services are provided by the Gauteng Department of Health at selected Primary Health Care facilities in all the Sub-districts. According to the report by the optician on Wednesday, March 16, she was at the clinic but due to communication challenges she did not see the complainant as the complainant was booked by the reception clerk. The new optician will be starting on Monday, April 18. The complainant has been notified and will be booked for an appointment this month.

Regarding immunisation appointments, the personnel who dismissed the child on request for immunisation have been reprimanded. The Expanded Programme on Immunisation, vaccines have to be accessible to the parents or guardians to prevent missed opportunities.

The management at Edenvale Clinic adheres to Batho Pele Principles and Patients’ Rights Charter. The manager of nursing services always conduct supervisory visits at the clinic. Clients are informed and advised about the complaints procedure if one is not happy with the service provided at the health facility. Corrective measures to prevent the recurrence of similar incidents have been implemented.

With regards to tea breaks and lunch breaks, there is a schedule for tea and lunch breaks. The personnel will be monitored to ensure adherence and compliance to the allocated tea and lunch break slots, to ensure that patients are not left unattended.

Regarding the deworming treatment, as a preventative measure children from 12 to 59 months are supplied with Albendazole at six month-intervals as a deworming treatment. The treatment is available in the form of a tablet and parents are advised to crush the tablet before giving it to the child.

Record keeping is always emphasied and personnel have an obligation to ensure that patients’ records are kept up-to-date on all interventions.

The management of Health and Social Development takes the concern raised by the complainant very seriously and corrective measures will be enforced to ensure all Batho Pele Principles and Patients’ Rights Charter are adhered to at all times.

The complainant visited the clinic on Monday, April 04 where an apology was tendered and was accepted by the complainant. The child’s Road To Health Card was updated accordingly with the information on the retained card.