Patients’ trips to clinic ‘unbearable’
PATIENTS at a Durban municipal clinic, including mothers with babies and the elderly, have to wait outside the clinic in harsh weather conditions before they can be attended to.
Some wait in a room next to the reception at Lancers Road Clinic in the city centre, which caught alight on December 26.
One of the clinic’s diabetic patients contacted the Daily News about her recent “unbearable visit” to the clinic.
The patient, who asked to remain anonymous, said it was her third visit to the clinic and she left before receiving medical attention.
The 54-year-old said she had not gone to the clinic in a while and, to her surprise, a portion of the clinic had fire damage inside – the reception and part of the waiting area.
“The clinic was generally full and there was no air conditioner,” she said. “Mothers were sitting out in the sun with their babies, while others were sitting in the burnt room.”
The Chesterville resident said neither staff nor patients should be exposed to those conditions. Soot was still in the air and part of the roof could cave in.
“I just left, I couldn’t stay,” she said. Another patient, who also did not want to be named, said she continued to attend the clinic even after the fire. She did not have a choice because she needed medication.
She also said some patients waited outside because there was not enough space inside the building since the fire.
The eThekwini Municipality’s spokesperson, Msawakhe Mayisela, confirmed the fire, but did not reveal the cause.
He said they did not close the clinic and had instead brought in a park home – a portable room – to be used as part of the waiting area.
“Only the safe areas are used. Staff were referred to the Occupational Health clinic,” Mayisela said.
He said the clinic was insured and their claims had been approved. Supply chain management processes were currently under way to replace damaged furniture and find a suitable service provider to undertake repairs and renovations.