The West Rand Health Services Department will investigate allegations of poor service at a clinic in Westonaria.
The clinic has come under the spotlight after resident Chris Steyn complained of poor service delivery during his two visits to the clinic.
On the one day he allegedly was made to wait more than two hours to get any form of attention from the nurses and after the nurses had their lunch they did not want to assist anyone anymore. All he saw them doing was opening a patient file and leaving what he refers to as “a rather disturbing note” inside.
Steyn eventually left the clinic without receiving any form of help.
“I went to the clinic obviously expecting to get help. I got there at around 1pm and I was told to return after an hour because everyone was on lunch.
“I understood this and upon my return, I saw nurses lazing around and playing with their phones while people were waiting to get helped,” says Steyn who adds that patients who also had been queuing for hours were leaving one after the other because no one was assisting them.
He says he waited around for some time and although one nurse registered a file for him, she did nothing else to assist him.
According to him, his patience started wearing thin and he also left the clinic.
“I returned to the clinic on Wednesday (13 August) because I really felt ill and needed medical attention. I was given my file and when I opened it, I saw a note inside that read that I had complained about their services and that I was rude to the nurses,” says Steyn.
“I approached the manager about this and I was told that they would not help me because I had said that I would report their conduct to the media,” says Steyn.
According to Steyn, that’s when he left their premises and approached the herald.
West Rand District Health Services spokesperson Sandile Gwayi says an investigation into these allegations will be launched and a way forward will be communicated to the media.
“We don’t condone any action that constitutes ignoring our patients or disrespecting them in any way. We will investigate this matter and if any of the nurses or officials are found to be guilty of wrongdoing as alleged, we will take action against that person or those people,” says Gwayi.
