Frustrated patients demand action over long queues

PATIENTS at several public health facilities in the townships are up in arms about waiting in queues for hours on end, sometimes in cold and wet conditions.

The Cape Argus visited Mitchells Plain Community Health Centre (CHC), Delft Day Hospital and Langa clinic yesterday, where people waited outside for long periods, with officials saying they struggled to manage the situation with limited resources.

Zoliswa Dlongwana, 51, from Delft arrived at 6am and stood in the queue for more than two hours, which she described as a bad experience.

A 70-year-old wheelchair-bound patient in Mitchells Plain said: “It is not nice to be outside the clinic in this rainy weather. Some of us might not even get assistance.”

SA National Civic Organisation provincial chairperson Bongikhaya Qhama said: “This has been happening for a very long time in the public hospitals without any form of improvement from the provincial and City Department of Health.”

He said Health MEC Nomafrench Mbombo made many promises, but they turned out to be just lip service.

ANC provincial health spokesperson Rachel Windvogel said the issue of waiting periods was something that had been raised in the legislature since 2019.

“It is sad that the MEC and the department refuse to take ownership and lead from the front in addressing this challenge. Instead they shift goal posts and hide behind the fact that a number of clinics belong to the City,” Windvogel said.

She said this was the reason the ANC called for the integration of clinics between the City and the province.

“Our people leave their homes in the early hours of the morning so they can be in front. They spend over five hours waiting for clinics to open,” Windvogel said.

She called for every clinic to have a waiting area on its premises instead of having people queue outside and be sitting ducks for criminals.

Community services and health mayco member Patricia van der Ross said her department used an appointment system which reduced waiting times. It was aimed at strengthening health services and improving health care she said.

Mbombo said there were 266 primary health-care facilities, 192 fixed clinics, 63 Community Day Centres (CDCs) and 11 CHC. Of those facilities, 69 clinics and 14 CDCs fell under the City.

She said the department has, over the years, consistently worked on addressing the issues. “Currently, due to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, only a limited number of patients are allowed inside the facility to ensure safety precautions and physical distancing guidelines,” Mbombo said.