CHAOS erupted at the KwaMashu Community Health Care Centre after a patient died in a queue.
The morning was disturbed in the health centre known as Poly Clinic, situated in KwaMashu, north of Durban, on Monday, 22 April.
Patients were angry with the staff, accusing them of not doing their job.
This after a man died while waiting in a queue to be attended by the medical staff.
According to a patient, they arrived at 5am with the man and joined the queue.
"He kept getting up and going to check inside for the nurses. He would return and continue waiting with us. Just after 6am, the nurses said they'd start working at 7am. But that didn't happen," she said.
She said the man was using crutches, and he got up and left the crutches with his card.
"When he didn't return, I, together with another patient, went to look for him. We found him lying on the floor. We then alerted other patients as well as the nurses. The man was checked, and he was confirmed dead. Had they attended to him on his arrival, he would still be alive today," she said.
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Another patient said this angered all patients because they felt the man could have been saved if he had been attended to earlier.
"This is very sad because this health centre is a 24-hour centre. But when we arrived at 5am, they told us to wait for the morning staff. The night duty staff should have attended to this man when he arrived because they were still there. It was wrong to make him wait," he said.
He said the nurses at Poly Clinic are lazy and don't do their work.
On Tuesday, 23 April, the department responded to media enquiries.
KZN health department spokesman Mdu Mcalane confirmed that a man (41) was found in an open space near the pharmacy delivery parking lot, having sadly died at KwaMashu Community Health Centre (CHC).
"According to a report from facility management, patients became concerned when they saw the man lying on the floor. They then alerted the security guards, who immediately alerted the nurses, who summoned for help," he said.
Mcalane said upon examination by the doctors, the patient was found to have no vital signs and therefore declared dead.
"The department would like to urge healthcare users or their relatives to understand the importance of presenting during the early stages of illness to health facilities in order to afford doctors and nurses the opportunity to make timeous interventions.
“This will help to avoid serious complications which may lead to fatalities," he said.
He said the department will contact the family to provide the necessary support.
