Editor’s views on issues affecting the public
For the record, it is not all medical staff who are to blame - only some individuals within their ranks. They should either shape up or shape out.
![](https://images.caxton.co.za/wp-content/uploads/sites/45/2014/02/IMG_5732-Small.jpg)
It’s been a sorry time for communities out there which continue to be ill-treated at various hospitals and clinics around the province. They may take it personally, but it isn’t because the whole mess is about authorities, per se, but about the actual staff members employed there.
We’ve been inundated with complaints from the community.
Last Thursday, yours truly received a complaint from someone who had to wait 16 hours to be attended to at Rob Ferreira Hospital. She said she arrived at the maternity section already experiencing labour pains as she was due to deliver her baby. She was number five in the queue and was never attended to until late in the evening. She was saved by one nursing staff member who came onto the night shift, and was the first to assist her. The doctor on duty came to her only after 22:00 and said she should wait for another doctor as he had a lot of emergencies to attend to.
The poor lass was in the dark as to when that other doctor would arrive, but eventually someone did. No examination was conducted, but she was told to come back on March 4 to give birth. How he came to that conclusion was very strange but she was discharged at that very hour, after midnight. Luckily, she had mobile relatives who fetched her from the hospital. There are numerous cases of neglect by hospital and clinic staff. The blame here lies not with the politicians, but the staff. If, for whatever reason, they are disgruntled, they shouldn’t take it out on the people who need attention. They have unions to take care of their grievances. If they haven’t got a calling to the medical field, then they shouldn’t be there.
For the record, it is not all medical staff who are to blame – only some individuals within their ranks. They should either shape up or shape out.