Despite continuous complaints of poor service delivery by the ANC-led government at Local, Provincial and National level, the local representative of the ANC, Cllr Naeem Patel, who is a member of the ANC PCO office in Centurion, seemingly is not capable of effectively addressing the concerns of residents.
This follows yet more complaints against the Laudium Community Health Care Centre, more commonly known as the Laudium Hospital, on Bengal Street in Laudium Ext 3. The Hospital which falls under the jurisdiction of the Gauteng Province has, over a period, been accused of amongst others, discriminating against Indian patients and poor service delivery.
The Laudium Sun has once more received similar complaints, with local patients, especially chronic patients, being made to wait the entire day just to receive their medication or see a doctor. Residents say that elderly patients often stand in queues from as early as 5am and only return home at around 5pm, often without even being seen by a doctor.
Elderly patient, Mohamed Sayed, of Ivory Street, Laudium, told the Laudium Sun, “This is a very serious concern that I am raising regarding the Laudium Community Health Care Centre situated on Bengal Street. We elderly people come to the Laudium Hospital and are made to stand in the queue as early as 5am in the morning, but they don’t have a proper system at all. There is no organized process where they register how many patients come in or keep files properly. Every single time I visit the hospital, I have to open another file because they don’t have any record of my old file. This makes the situation even worse, as they have to start everything from the beginning again. The delay just continues and there are many elderly patients coming to fetch their chronic medication or coming for other medical consultations. However, due to poor management and negligence at the Laudium Hospital, we end up waiting the entire day just to get our medication. This must stop. The staff are extremely lazy and most of the time, they are not doing their jobs properly. They spend their time chatting and mingling with other staff members instead of focusing on serving patients. It is very frustrating for us, because we come here in pain, hoping for help, but leave feeling even more stressed. The hospital’s management does not seem to care about the suffering of the community. The Laudium Hospital is really going through a downward pathetic stage in terms of service delivery. The whole management must be changed. It is time that the ANC Councillor of Laudium steps in to do something. It’s not that there are too many patients, the real problem is that the staff at the Laudium Hospital are slow, lazy and lack commitment. They seem to come to the hospital to have fun, not to work. It’s unacceptable for a government health facility to operate like this. Even after waiting for hours, there is no proper communication, no guidance and no priority given to the elderly. The staff keep moving around, laughing and talking among themselves while the patients are sitting and waiting with no clue as to what is going on. This is not the kind of service we deserve after contributing our whole lives to this community. I appeal to the authorities and politicians to urgently intervene and to improve the working system at the clinic.There should be a proper file system where every patient’s medical record is safely stored and updated. The hospital should introduce a numbering or appointment system, so that people don’t have to sit and wait the whole day. The management must monitor the staff to ensure they are doing their duties and attending to patients on time. Right now, the hospital is failing its community. Many of us who depend on this facility because we can’t afford private doctors, are being neglected and treated without respect. We are not asking for special treatment. We just want proper service, dignity, and respect. We deserve better medical care and an efficient system that works. The Department of Health and local leaders must visit the Laudium Hospital and see the situation for themselves. It’s high time something is done, because we, the people, have suffered enough.”
elderly patients are made to wait in queues
from as early as 5am and often have to wait
the entire day, just to get chronic medication.
Roxen Naidoo, another elderly patient, from White Blocks, Laudium, told the Laudium Sun, “Many people like us, who are old and do not have the funds to go to private hospitals, are really suffering because we are not treated well at the Laudium Hospital. We come very early in the morning, just to get medical attention. The Laudium Hospital does not have a proper system to treat each and every patient and many patients end up returning home without any medication or treatment because of the lack of facilities or the lack of commitment from the hospital staff. This must stop. The staff are slow and often not attentive and there is no proper management or organization. The Councillor of Laudium must raise this concern to the Department of Health and make this hospital function better. Many elderly people rely entirely on this hospital for chronic medication and basic health care. We wait in long queues for hours, but sometimes we do not even get seen to or treated properly. This is very stressful and discouraging, especially for old people who cannot stand in line for too long or travel so far for medical care. The lack of respect and efficiency at the clinic is a serious problem. There must proper filing systems, better supervision of staff and a functioning appointment system so that patients are treated on time and with dignity. As the community, we deserve better service.”
are slow and often not attentive, with many
patients returning home without any
medication or treatment.
Halima Hussain, yet another elderly patient, from Taj Street, Laudium, told the Laudium Sun, “We are so tired of the service that the Laudium Hospital is providing to us. It is really terrible and the staff’s behaviour is so pathetic. It feels like they think they are God and can treat us in any manner they want. The way they treat patients is unacceptable. Many of us come to the hospital early in the morning, sometimes as early as 4am, hoping to get our chronic medication or receive medical consultations, but the staff do not take their responsibilities seriously. We stand in long queues for hours, waiting for attention, while the staff spend time talking among themselves, ignoring the people who are suffering and in need of care. There is no proper system in place to manage patients or keep track of medical records and every visit becomes extremely stressful because we have to repeat all the procedures from the beginning. The hospital must improve it’s service immediately and the management needs to ensure that the staff are trained to be professional, efficient, and respectful. Our Councillor must intervene and make sure this
hospital works for the people it is meant to serve. It is high time that the staff stop behaving as if they are above everyone else and start doing their jobs properly for the benefit of the community.”