Clients travelling from as far as Strandfontein can attest to the improvements made to the Tafelsig clinic, but the management are constantly seeking to improve its services.
Having taken over at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, clinic manager Sister Judith Mangweni says the turnaround did not come without its challenges.
During an unannounced visit to the clinic, People’s Post observed well managed lines, clean clinic facilities and a quick movement of clients through various points.
One of the monitoring tools that has assisted the clinic’s improvements is the survey issued to clients, and the overall open door policy through complaints and compliments.
Mangweni says at the moment the average waiting time from arrival to leaving is around two hours.
“I first needed to get to know the community that we serve and their needs and then get to know the challenges to best improve the service,” she says.
“I wanted to communicate that we are here to service the community, but also want to best address anything that is a challenge or making clients unhappy with the service.”
Keeping staff motivated and keeping lines of communication open has also been a success for the clinic.
“We want clients to know that they do not have to just accept and tolerate services that they feel are unfair,” she says.
This has assisted the clinic establish an appointment and internal system that assists in flow and management of clients.
The busiest days at the clinic is midweek, due to the increase in lifestyle disease support such as hypertension and diabetes, with a variety of services offered.
The clinic services residents of Tafelsig, Strandfontein, Eastridge and Rocklands and offer booked appointments, general doctors appointments, immunisations, child health, mental health, medication dispensary, Matrix and baby health among others.
Te clinic can see an average of 7 000 clients per month including many trauma cases.
“The clients really appreciate the service and changes. We have recorded only compliments and no complaints for the last month. We check up on what issues there are and look at what best way to improve it,” says Mangweni.
During the Covid-19 pandemic under restrictions, there were many complaints around outside queues, however there was no other way to mitigate this due to space constraints.
One improvement made to assist in this was the erection of a veranda to protect the patients from rain during the winter months.
Ward 82 councillor, Washiela Harris says she has noted a great improvement at the clinic, with constituents also not leaving many complaints with her office.
“If I receive a complaint, we take it directly to the clinic so it can be dealt with. There is an open door policy and they are really committed to making a difference at the clinic and improve the services to the community,” she says.
Sister Bianca Rhode, who is second in command at the clinic, agrees that improvements have been made and will continue to be made at the clinic. She continues that the staff are dedicated to ensuring the best service to clients.
