Clinic nurses ‘in mourning’ over work conditions

MAKING A STATEMENT: Sister Winky Mngqibisa, dressed in black, checks Pumza Nkayi’s blood pressure. Picture: YOLISWA SOBUWA

DRESSED in black clothing instead of their uniforms, nurses at the New Brighton clinic say the conditions they work under are unacceptable.

“Mourning” their working conditions, they say they often fear for their lives as patients become threatening when they cannot access services.

Patients who arrived at the clinic as early as 4am often left when it closed at 4pm without having been helped. For many, this meant defaulting on their medication, they said.

Pumza Nkayi, 45, said: “I first came here on Friday to see the doctor . . . but I had to go home without seeing him.

“Today [yesterday] I arrived here at 4.56am and six hours later I am still waiting . . . because I can’t get a prescription from the nurses.”

Lwando Faku, 28, said it was risky for patients to wait outside early and tempers often frayed.

Lungiswa Magi, 63, said many women had to hire boys to queue for them, “because it is not safe to be here when it is still dark”.

Community clinic committee secretary Galo Mbebeto said they had tried to engage with Health MEC Phumza Dyantyi since 2014 without luck.

“We even have a shortage of cleaners. The situation in this clinic is terrible, hence we have taken a decision to have it closed,” Mbebeto said.