RESIDENTS allege that the Kayamandi clinic often turns patients away hours before it closes due to a steady population increase over recent years.
Community leader Samkela Mhlakaza said sickly residents are often chased away during the day; although they arrived as early as 7am and 8am.
This sentiment is shared by several residents who use the clinic.
Mhlakaza said the provincial government promised to build a day hospital in the area, but a taxi rank is being built instead.
Residents nearby had complaints about clinic staff calling names - via a loud hailer - to collect their pills in a certain room, which was known for dispensing medicine for certain viruses or diseases.
Asked about this, Mhlakaza said the practice stopped earlier this year.
Mhlakaza’s mother, Nontsholo, said the queues were so long that she sent her grandchild to collect her medicines.
The Weekend Argus visited the clinic last week, where a long queue snaked outside the building.
DA MPL Lorraine Botha, chairperson for the provincial legislature community development committee, said challenges facing the clinic included patients with wrong addresses and this made it difficult for the clinic to trace them when they defaulted on treatment.
She said there was no clinic forum in Kayamandi.
“Infrastructure is a major challenge at Kayamandi Clinic and the Department of Health is struggling to get land to build a new clinic,” Botha said.
She said a few positives at the clinic included the mother-to-child prevention programme.
Cape Winelands District Health’s Sandra Maritz denied that patients were turned away.
“Patients who have not scheduled an appointment are assessed to determine who needs immediate assistance or is very ill according to the triage system,” she said.
Meanwhile a few weeks ago, 33-year-old mother of two, Nontle Felani and her family could not believe the “horrific treatment” she received at the Mitchells Plain district hospital.
Felani felt ill and weak earlier in the day, and her husband rushed her to hospital. She has no clear recollection of the events of the day.
“I was really out of it, so much so that I passed out,” she said.
But local regional UDM deputy secretary-general, Bongani Maqungwana said he had received a call from frantic members of the Felani family following events at the hospital.
Maqungwana alleges that Felani was discharged from the hospital with a blocked drip still inserted in her vein.
Western Cape Department of Health spokesperson Monique Johnstone said: “According to the Western Cape Department of Health’s values and code of conduct, all patients are to be treated with care and respect.
“We apologise for any inconvenience caused during the patient’s stay, and recommend that she approach the hospital’s management team to discuss and resolve the matter.”
The Khayelitsha District Hospital has also been rocked by staff and bed shortages in recent months.
Harrowing tales of patients having to sleep on the floor of the trauma unit while awaiting care or having to wait for hours or even days to see a doctor hit social media.
Zandisile Mashwabane, 45, from Site B said he would rather die at home than go to the hospital.
“I know too many people who have had bad treatment at that place, what is the point of going to hospital if you are not going to get the emergency care you need. I will never go there.
“One of my neighbours died waiting to see a doctor at that place. It is the hospital of death,” he said.