MORE and more complaints are surfacing about poor treatment of patients at government clinics.
Many patients feel the situation in clinics will never change for as long as nurses are 'untouchable'.
In one incident that happened at Daveyton Main Clinic, patients had to give a nurse marching orders after she refused to help them.
The gatvol patients said they had been sitting on the benches since 7am on 22 January and by 1.30pm they were hungry and still not helped because they arrived a day later after their appointment.
The patients then confronted the nurses who were supposed to help them.
In a video captured during this encounter, the nurse can be seen being given marching orders by the patients.
The angry patients who spoke to Daily Sun days after the video surfaced said they were not happy that the said nurse was off the hook.
"We feel the Gauteng Department of Health is protecting its workers. Nurses will continue showing the 'don't care attitude' because they are defended," said an angry patient.
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Some patients who are on chronic medication said they are often turned away because they missed their appointment dates.
"Nurses don't understand that we struggle to get money for transport. We are not working and that means we have to borrow from people who give us money a day or two after the appointment," said one patient.
Community leader Laly Skosana said she had brought her uncle to the clinic for treatment when she accidentally bumped into patients who complained to her that they had been sitting on the benches since 7am.
"At that time, it was 1.30pm and they were complaining of hunger," she said.
Skosana said they demanded to see management, but even afterward the nurse still refused to help them.
Skosana said after the video was taken, nurses are now attending to patients and they are no longer made to wait for a long time on the benches.
"We have another case from a clinic at Chris Hani in Katlehong where a patient was denied chronic medication. Unfortunately, this is not the only case. We received complaints from other clinics as well," she said.
She said they received complaints about nurses spending time on WhatsApp, taking long lunch or teatime breaks, and neglecting patients at government clinics in Ekurhuleni.
Responding to the incident, Gauteng Health spokesperson Motalatale Modiba said they are aware of the unfortunate incident that happened on 22 January at the Daveyton Main Clinic where a staff member reported being harassed by community members.
"The harassing of healthcare workers is condemned as it is not the correct way of resolving issues that the community might be unhappy about. The incident has exposed gaps on the side of the facility and also on the community's side which will need to be addressed," said Modiba.
