Mhlaba Memela

Mhlaba Memela

A KwaZulu-Natal hospital was yesterday given the thumbs up for high performance and good service to patients by the staff.

Neliswa Nkonyeni, the MEC for health, made a surprise visit to the CJ Crookes hospital in Scottburgh, on the south coast, yesterday after the department had received a large number of complaints from the public about poor service delivery at the hospital.

Complaints included patients having to spend long hours in queues while nurses appeared to move about doing nothing, nurses spending many hours on the phone without attending to patients, and the hospital being situated on a hill that sick people were unable to walk up.

But Nkonyeni's visit raises hope for the public because she instructed the hospital to provide transport for patients, especially those with chronic diseases.

Nkonyeni said that despite the complaints from the public, the hospital was far better than many other public hospitals.

"The hospital is better than what I normally see in other hospitals in the province. And the long hours waiting were caused by manual filing," she said.

Nkonyeni said her department was acquiring a new automated filing system.

"The automated filing system was started at RK Khan Hospital in Chatsworth, and it has proved to be working very well.

"In all hospitals a similar system will be installed to help patients access their files and be able to see the doctors on time, without waiting for hours," she said.

Nkonyeni said she was surprised by the commitment of the nurses at the hospital, saying they had a desire to serve people.

"The work of the hospital is amazing.

"The system of management of the hospital can be copied by other hospital managements.

"There might be minor obstacles, but the staff commitment shows that it will be easy to deal with them," Nkonyeni said.