JOHANNESBURG SOUTH – The South Hills Clinic’s Health Committee has had enough of rude, unruly and disrespectful patients who threaten the nurses when things do not go their way.
This behavior has now demoralised the nurses, who are threatened everyday by patients who want to cut queues and make their own rules.
The committee said the some patients threaten to call the Southern COURIER and shout at the nurses, causing chaos in the small clinic.
One lady even phoned the clinic, saying her name was Gloria and she works at the COURIER, just to threaten and abuse the nurses.
“The committee has had enough of this kind of patients and wish they stop this behavior, because it does not help anyone. In fact, it is the patients who always put themselves first who cause this problems.
“They know that the nurses have to start by sorting out medicine and equipment first thing in the morning, but to them this is like wasting time. But it is important to do this as the nurses will work smoothly through the day without walking up and down to fetch things in front for patients who do not have time.
“This nurses follow protocol. They tell people not to bring children younger than five years before 10:00 in morning as that they want to start with the elderly patients, but people still bring those children.
“The nurses know that such children should not be exposed to the illnesses of adults. In fact that will allow the nurses to attend the elderly as soon as possible so they could go home.
“But the elderly must know that they get priority in the morning, not to come during the day without any emergency and expect to get the same priority, because at that time the nurses want to focus on treating patients who have been in the queues since the morning.
“Thats where another problem emerges, the elderly who just come at their own time expect priority and that makes the patients who have been in the queue since the morning complain,” said Mr Peter Bocks.
The clinic will no longer tolerate any disrespectful behaviour or language within the premises. From now on, security will take such people out of the clinic and the Moffatview police will be phoned.
“The nurses barely get time to rest for lunch, and they work past their working hours just to help everyone in the queues. On top of that, they get fined at crèches for collecting their children late all the time, but people do not appreciate that,” said a disappointed Mr Peter Bocks.
From now on any persons who have a complaint about the clinic or nurses will have to sit and talk about it with the committee and committee Chairperson Mr Peter Bocks, who can be contacted on 072 105 2688.
