Chatting nurse snubs patients
Last year alone, in September, more than 16 children and 15 mothers lost their lives due to nurses' negligence at this hospital.
TONGA – A local doctor was arrested and charged with theft after confiscating a cellphone belonging to a nurse at the hospital.
He is alleged to have reprimanded her for continuously using her phone while patients waited for service.
According to a source, the nurse who opened a theft case against the doctor, was angry at him for telling her to do her work instead of playing on her phone.
“She was busy on her phone when she was supposed to be helping patients and I guessed this annoyed the doctor after seeing the long queue of people seeking medical attention.
He warned her about two or three times not to use it while serving people, but she continued until the doctor took it away,” said an eyewitness.
“She didn’t take the matter lying down as she screamed and shouted at him, but after seeing that her insults were not enough to get him to surrender her cellphone, she went to report the matter to the police,” said the bystander.
Tonga police have since confirmed that a case of theft was opened against the doctor but the case was later struck off the roll as the court deemed it impossible to prosecute.
At the time going to print, spokesman for the health department, Mr Ronny Masilela, had not told this newspaper whether the department would institute its own investigation into the matter, or what disciplinary measures were going to be taken against health-care workers who were found to be in the wrong, especially those who failed to follow the rules or to help patients on time.
Masilela was asked to confirm whether these workers were permitted to use their cellphones on duty.
During Adv Thuli Madonsela’s visit to the province last week, most communities complained about the poor state of public health-care services at hospitals.
They told Madonsela that staff took their time attending to the sick.
Recently, this paper ran an article in which patients of Themba Hospital said they could no longer cope with the bad attitude of nurses.
“We go to hospitals because we need medical attention, but the treatment we receive is a nightmare.
The staff, especially nurses, go about as if they own the institutions and take their time attending to our medical needs.
It’s really sad, they are the ones bringing shame to the health fraternity of the province,” commented a patient at Themba.
Last year alone, in September, more than 16 children and 15 mothers lost their lives due to nurses’ negligence at this hospital.
Madonsela said she was aware of the poor services rendered by health-care workers in public institutions and that they were subjected to long queues and sometimes had to wait for long hours before receiving attention.
