Poor service has become such a headache for some elderly patients that they have resorted to paying people to collect their meds.
|||Cape Town - Long queues and poor service at Hanover Park Community Health Centre have become such a headache for some elderly patients that they have resorted to paying people to collect their prescription medication on their behalf.
So-called “tablet collectors” are paid anything between R10 and R20 to collect medication for each patient.
Hanover Park Health Forum has confirmed that it is aware locals are collecting medication on behalf of elderly patients who can’t do so themselves.
Elizabeth Bantom, chairwoman of the forum, raised concerns about the collection of chronic medication, arguing the practice was “disruptive” to other patients who were often overtaken by these collectors, and also put patients at risk of taking wrong medication as occasionally couriers mixed up the prescriptions.
“In most cases the clinic gives up to seven different prescriptions to the same guy… there is no limit or monitoring whatsoever on how many prescriptions one can take. These people are making money and they all vie for clients… it’s a dangerous path.”
Bantom said when the service was introduced a while ago, collectors were required to have affidavits from patients, but this was no longer happening, and “staff just hand over medicines wily nilly”.
Last year, Health MEC Theuns Botha said the UTi Pharma, the new supplier to the centralised Chronic Dispensing Unit that distributes chronic medication to about 200 000 patients in the province, would in future deliver medication to patients’ homes instead of clinics.
Cape Argus