A group of patients have been upsetting the staff at at Middle Terrace Clinic on Albany Road with their rude bahaviour.
Pharmacist assistant at the clinic, Fuzile Mzalazala said that the regular patients behave rudely because they want to be helped right away.
A group of patients have been upsetting the staff at at Middle Terrace Clinic on Albany Road with their rude bahaviour.
Pharmacist assistant at the clinic, Fuzile Mzalazala said that the regular patients behave rudely because they want to be helped right away.
According to Mzalazala they treat out-patients from Fort England Hospital as well as patients who collect their chronic medication treatment.
“What amazes me is that it is the patients receiving the chronic medication treatment that are behaving badly towards us and not the patients from Fort England.
They are extremely rude and swear at us every time they are here,” says Mzalazala. Josephine Hilpert of the clinic committee said that she is very worried about the situation.
“These people [the staff]are here to help the community, without them we would not be here. They do not deserve this treatment.”
Middle Terrace Clinic sister-incharge Roslyn Major said that she has tried to organise a meeting between Mzalazala and the patients in order to resolve the situation, but the patients claim that they didn’t do anything wrong. She said that the main problem is that the clinic is short-staffed.
Grocott’s Mail was not able to receive comment from the patients, but two Middle Terrace Clinic patients who wish to remain anonymous, said that they have observed these occurrences.
They believe the main problem is the clinic’s long system where they have to spend more than half an hour waiting which causes some patients to take out their frustrations on the staff members.
They said that the staff perform their duties well, it is just the system that needs to change. Clinic patient, Jimmy Peters said that the only problem he has observed is that the clinic is short-staffed.
Another regular patient, Andrew-Lene said, “it’s much better here than Port Elizabeth clinics, as we don’t sit for a long time, we sit maybe about for about an hour.”
Mzalazala had initially intended to lay a complaint of verbal abuse against the group of patients but the clinic committee has advised him to make attempts to solve the matter internally.
An official from the district department of health said that he was aware of the situation and that they are attempting to rectify the situation.
