Clinic staff dutiful

I refer you to last week’s letter in The Rep (“Clinic staff should attend to patients” May 20).

The problem with the patient’s complaint is that it contains many inconsistencies namely: The clinic only opens at 8am.

I always get to work just before 7am or just after, upon which I open the clinic so patients do not wait outside in the cold, especially in winter.

We then open with a prayer, after which we sign in and discuss the day’s duties, which takes no longer than 10 minutes after allocation to specific programmes is done i.e antenatal, chronics etc.

The only time we have a meeting is on a Wednesday, when we give feedback from meetings and workshops.

Seldom is there a time when we have meetings twice a week unless something has cropped up that needs immediate attention.

The patients are informed when meetings are taking place.

Each clinic has its own catchment area and often we see patients from other clinics’ catchment areas.

Each patient has a right to go to whatever clinic they choose but they normally come to Philani when they are dissatisfied with the treatment they get from other facilities.

Patients sometimes have to wait because thorough exam- inations are done – that is not including emergencies, which sometimes require more than one nurse to handle.

The government has introduced Primary Health Care 101, which requires that every patient be screened thoroughly, which takes time.

The clinic is supposed to close at 4.30pm but often nurses go home only at 6pm due to the influx of patients, sacrificing a lot of their personal time.

The sister in charge has her hands full to maintain the facility, with the little resources available to her.

We suspect that this letter to The Rep has been forwarded by a disgruntled co-worker who is not happy for being disciplined for insubordination.