Residents work with Pumtree Hospital for improved service delivery

PLUMTREE Combined Residents and Development Association (PCRADA) chairperson Richard Khumalo has said  they have been authorized by the district hospital to be the middlemen for residents whenever they face challenges.

Khumalo said since the poor service delivery incident the hospital has assigned them to be the mediator for the residents.

"The hospital asked us to represent the residents whenever they face challenges. The hospital staff learnt their lesson and people are now being treated fairly. There have been no complaints ever since then and people are now very happy," he said.

He said the issue was solved and there are no problems at all.

Last year Plumtree residents claimed that their confrontation with staff at the district hospital over bad service delivery recently has paid off as there has been a marked improvement in patients' treatment.

They said the staff at the hospital had become notorious for being rough and uncaring, which led residents to confront the administration.

 Khumalo said that poor treatment at the facility was now a thing of the past.

He said the staff now treats people with respect and PCRADA intervention helped a lot.

Khumalo said there is great improvement at the hospital and people are very appreciative of that.

Two years back Plumtree residents petitioned the Plumtree District Hospital after many lost their lives due to poor service delivery.

In the petition, PCRADA appealed for the mistreatment of patients to stop.

Contacted for comment, Plumtree district medical officer Joe Nganunu said they were unaware of the alleged ill-treatment of patients at the hospital.

Residents claimed that the hospital had become a death trap, with some patients dying without being attended to.

Cases of ill-treatment of patients by hospital management across the country are reportedly on the increase as health professionals protest poor working conditions.