Patients will not be turned away – dep of health
Last month patients were told by personnel at Rethabile Clinic that as from June 1, patients who fall under the jurisdiction of Buite Street Clinic will no longer be helped at Rethabile Clinic.
POLOKWANE – The department of health has confirmed that no patient can be turned away at Rethabile Clinic.
This after patients were told by administration personnel at Rethabile Clinic that as from June 1, patients who fall under the jurisdiction of Buite Street Clinic will no longer be helped at Rethabile Clinic.
Review visited the clinic on May 8 and observed that while waiting in a queue to open a file, the file administrator, who was not wearing a name badge, told patients from Nirvana and Westenburg that they would not be helped at Rethabile Clinic as from June 1, as they must report to the clinic in Buite Street.
The patients were very upset about this: “there is no way we are going to Buite Street Clinic. The service there is very poor. We sit all day waiting to be helped and at the end of the day, we are told the clinic closes at 16:00 and we must come back the next day. That is why we prefer coming to Rethabile Clinic, the service here is bad, but at least we go home being helped, unlike at the clinic in Buite Street”.
The patients said they would use a friend or family member’s address in future to ensure they received assistance at Rethabile Clinic.
“Next time I will not use my own residential address, but my cousin’s who lives near Rethabile Clinic. This way I will not be refused. It is not like they will know whether I live there or not,” a patient said.
Department of health spokesperson, Macks Lesufi, said the department’s facilities would not turn patients away.
“The Constitution of the country provides and guarantees freedom of choice for all citizens and therefore it is not correct that patients are turned away and such will not happen. The department is busy establishing a day care clinic at Ext. 71 to relieve Rethabile Clinic and Buite Street Clinic. We are still working on the logistics for the functionality of the day care clinic, but temporary structures and wendy houses are erected,” Lesufi said.
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