Call for MOH staff to show they care

A MOTHER and son are calling on the Ministry of Health to work on their customer service skills when dealing with emergency accidents. This comes after 17-year-old Robert Maropai ran into a dog while driving to last Thursday and he fell off his scooter, sustaining injuries Maropai says that after the smash he was in shock and bleeding and could only think of getting home to his mother in Tupapa. His mother, Joan Ngati, immediately took him to the Tupapa clinic where he was told to wait in line, even though he was in severe pain. Ngati said she asked a triage nurse to help but she wouldn't, and even tried to interrupt a doctor to help. However, she was advised to take her son to Rarotonga Hospital. There, however, he had a similar experience. Maropai said he was moaning in pain and the receptionist told him to keep quiet. He claims he was laughed at by the doctors and nurses who teased him, asking if he was hurting and whispering that he might have been drunk. “I waited an hour before being shown to a waiting room, but had to wait another hour for a doctor to turn up.” Ngati said the hospital staff's treatment and attitude had been unacceptable and added that it would be good to hear an apology from the ministry. Ministry of Health acting secretary and director of funding and planning, Ana Mataitini said one advantage of the patient information system at the hospital was that it could generate the average waiting time for patients Mataitini said according to the MoH records, patients were waiting no longer than 30 minutes on the day Maropai called at the Tupapa clinic. “The patient was not immediately attended to at Tupapa Outpatients as staff were busy attending to patients who had been in the queue and those who had booked for appointments,” Mataitini said. MoH staff had noted Maropai was not in distress, was walking and not limping. He had superficial abrasions, and was not bleeding, she added. “When patients walk into the hospital, visual assessments can be made by nurses at triage area.” Mataitini said the ministry apologised for any inconvenience that may have been caused to the patient and mother. “And we will endeavour to improve our processes.”