Download PDFOrange Farm community members protested outside the clinic following the death of an 82-year-old woman. The octogenarian who had been on her own to seeking medical attention, died outside the clinic. The protesting community members are blaming the clinic for the death.
The elderly woman fell outside the clinic when a man who was passing-by saw the incident and rushed to the clinic to request a wheelchair to help her. The security officer at the clinic refused and said the clinic does not allow wheelchairs to leave the clinic premises without an escort.
As the young man desperately tried to explain the situation of the old woman, but no one was interested. He asked the nurses to come and assist the elderly woman, but they refused saying clinic staff do not work outside. One nurse said it is not in their scope of practice and said the man must check if there were any CHWs who could assist.
Following the man’s failure to secure help, he took a taxi to look for an ambulance. When he returned with assistance the granny was already dead. Following this discovery, the nurses started scrambling, rushing and trying to find out what had happened.
The community members became enraged, demanding to know why the nurses only came to assist so late. On Monday, angry community members went to the clinic to say they wanted the clinic closed because it does not help the community. They said there were many problems that they had raised that the clinic had struggled to tackle.
Some community members also say they have seen uniformed clinic staff at drinking spots during work hours while people want their assistance at the health facility.
They concluded by saying they didn’t want clinic staff like those who are selfish. They say the nurses are not passionate about helping patients but only want big salaries.
The clinic committee and director Mr Mathole were later called to calm down the situation. Mr Mathole promised to do an investigation into the death of the old woman.
*At the time of writing the elderly woman had not yet been identified
This article was submitted on 24 February 2025. You may republish this article, so long as you credit the authors and Karibu! Online (www.Karibu.org.za), and do not change the text. Please include a link back to the original article.
