Dear Editor,
Recently, there have been complaints against the New Amsterdam Hospital.
Wednesday July 3 was a clinic day, with not less than a hundred patients sitting in the waiting room. There are several fans but not one was working; patients were fanning themselves with their clinic cards, but fans in the offices and rooms for employees were all working.
Patients who go to the outpatients for treatment get a hassle to see the doctor. There is a number system but it does not seem to function. While it appears to function in the morning there is chaos in the afternoon. Every day from about 1 pm about 10 persons are seen standing at the door waiting for a chance to get in; they are fearful that if they sit in the shed and wait their turn they will never get in. Instead they stand there in the burning afternoon sun, some opening their umbrellas and waiting for over an hour; others give up and go home.
One day I went to see the doctor to repeat my tablets and was told over and over by the guard to sit and wait; at 4.30 pm I left and bought the tablets.
This hospital is touted as “state of the art,” but it is far from this in terms of service to the people. The system needs upgrading.
The authorities keep defending themselves when these issues are raised instead of providing a better service. They are all aware of the situation as they see it for themselves every day but do nothing about it.
I hope this letter will bring about the necessary change that befits a “state of the art hospital”
Yours faithfully,
(Name and address provided)
