THANDI SKADE
FROM three hours to 40 minutes. This is how much Kliptown Clinic patients say waiting times at the Eldorado Park health facility have been reduced to three weeks after Gauteng Premier Nomvula Mokonyane and MEC for Health Ntombi Mekgwe visited the facility.
Before Mokonyane’s visit, regular patients complained of excessively long queues that meant arriving at the hospital from as early as 5am – more than two hours before the clinic opened. Now, they say, they don’t have to worry about arriving that early.
“I’ve noticed that the queues are moving faster and they aren’t as long. On average, you would wait between two to three hours to see a doctor, but today I only waited 30 to 40 minutes,” said one patient.
Nursing staff attitudes and overall treatment have also improved.
“The nurses and attending staff are giving us a better service than before. I just hope that it lasts,” another patient said.
While patients’ general experience at the clinic has improved, security seems to have taken a dip. When The Star visited the clinic last week, there were two security guards, one man and a woman, manning the entrance.
But, unlike before, there were no hand-held metal detectors and the searching of bags was lax. Several patients left the clinic unsearched as the security guard was distracted by a phone call.
When Mokonyane and Mekgwe visited, they found security guards with hand-held metal detectors at the clinic’s gate to search bags as people entered and left the clinic. Patients said then they had noticed more cleaning staff than usual.
On Friday, though, only two hours after opening, the floors were already dirty and the floor sporadically scattered with sweet wrappers and chip packets.
The women’s toilets were out of toilet paper and one didn’t have a seat.
Despite this, patients said they were happy overall and grateful for the change, but they fear it may be short-lived.