/ 16 January 2006

Sick and tired of waiting

The government’s slogan of “Batho Pele” promises a return to our cultural values of putting people before all else. But anyone who uses public health services knows that people are generally put last — often after nurses’ tea breaks and chats.

The Helen Joseph hospital pharmacy hall, where outpatients without medical aid queue to get their medication for everything from arthritis to Aids is packed with people with tired and dejected faces.

Some have been waiting for their medication since dawn. There are seven counters, but only four are open to serve the 250 people who wait.

Children cry uncontrollably, the infirm slump in wheelchairs, and the elderly sprawl on the benches.

Joyce Maphanga, a domestic worker in her 50s, is a type one diabetic and has high blood pressure. She says she has been in the queue since 6.45am.

“When I arrived in the morning I waited two hours for my file to be found and another two before I could see the doctor. Now it’s 2pm and I am still waiting for medication,” she says. “Last month, I arrived at 6.15am for my monthly doctor’s appointment and was only able to go home at 8.30pm because the queues were too long,” she explains. “The nurses are slacking and that makes the queue to go slow.”

At lunchtime, five of the seven counters are closed and only reopen about half an hour later.

Nomsa Mhlongo staggers into the pharmacy area, coughing violently. She looks thin and frail. Mholongo is open about her HIV-positive status, and takes no notice when the man next to her moves seats when she sits down. She says last week she waited at the pharmacy for the whole day but didn’t get the ARVs she needs.

She has been here since 6.30am and has resigned herself to spending the day at the hospital. “I travel from Soweto to come and get my pills here, because the service is better than at Baragwanath. There, the nurses scold us and will not help you if you don’t have money to pay,” she explains.

“The nurses go out for lunch and tea breaks, leaving us sitting here and when they come back they shout at us. I don’t know why. And there is nothing we can do because we are poor.”

It becomes clear that part of the problem at Helen Joseph is that patients from Soweto and the West Rand seek treatment there, rather than at Chris Hani Baragwanath or Leratong. Some cite verbal abuse by nurses as a reason, others say the queues at Baragwanath are even longer.

Bheki Hlatshwayo (32) of Mzimhlophe in Soweto says he comes to Helen Joseph because he is “sick and tired” of the poor service at Baragwanath.

“At Bara they say the unemployed should not pay for medical services, but when somebody who has money to pay comes, you are told to wait aside until that person is helped,” he says. Even though it means traveling 30km and waiting for many hours, he would rather come to Helen Joseph than go to Chris Hani Baragwanath.

Theresa Benjamin of Newlands, who is disabled and uses a walking frame, is accompanying her elderly mother who has been placed in a wheelchair because she could no longer stand, after waiting almost nine hours.

“We’ve been waiting here for ages and nothing seems to be happening,” Benjamin shouts in frustration. She says the government needs to employ more health workers and stop their exodus to overseas countries.

“It’s funny because the government is not investing in the well-being of the people but on extravagant projects such as the Gautrain,” she says.