Mon, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000
CONCERNED residents of Kamwala township in Lusaka have complained of poor services at their health centre. The residents say the health centre did not offer services according to the expectations of the people. They called on the Ministry of Health to send inspectors to the health facility and see how staff carried out their duties. Doreen Tembo, a resident in the area, charged that the health centre had allegedly failed to provide water for patients and were asking patients to find their own cups to draw water from the tap to use in taking medicine.
Ms. Tembo said that it was unfortunate the clinic staff had no consideration for the well-being of the people they were trained to take care of. She said water was a necessity in every health institution and patients should not be told to go and draw water on their own. “Water is very important in the operations of every health care facility and it is disappointing that Kamwala health centre workers have failed to come up with a way to have water for the patients but instead they are asking them to find their own water,” she said.
Ms. Tembo also complained that the centre did not have enough medicine and staff asked patients to buy their own medicines. She said that it was not right for patients to be buying their own medicine because they went to the clinic to be attended to.
“The health centre does not have medicine and patients are told to go and buy the medicine even when they are in pain,’’ he said. And Gerald Kangwa, another concerned resident, complained that health workers at the centre had bad attitude towards patients.
Mr. Kangwa said that the doctors and nurses at the health centre were ill-treating patients. ‘’We are concerned with the attitude of the workers at Kamwala health centre and we are appealing to the Ministry of Health to look into the matter and ensure that health service providers are able to offer a comfortable and friendly environment to patients,’’ he said.
Earlier, Lusaka provincial medical officer Kennedy Malama said the ministry will not condone any form of bad attitude towards patients by health workers. -Millennium Radio 90.5FM
