Parents and their sick children had to wait patiently at the Paediatric Ward of the Tupua Tamasese Meaole hospital yesterday for hours to staff.
An unhappy member of the public contacted the Samoa Observer when they got tired of waiting.
Upon arrival, Malele, of Faleula, said she arrived with her sick three-year-old daughter at about 7.30am.
“We’ve been waiting since then,” she said close to 10am. “To my understanding this is not new to the nurses and the staff here.
They seem to like to take their own time doing anything while we are waiting.
“It’s heart-breaking especially when you’ve got a sick kid you are desperate to be seen by a doctor.”
According to Malele, when they asked hospital staff, they were told to wait because the nurses were having a meeting.
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“They just told us to wait,” she said.
“They said we have to be patient because the nurses were having a meeting.
“How can they have a meeting for nearly two hours when sick kids are waiting?
“With those meetings, what if someone was to die?
What’s the point of coming to the hospital? Can those meetings save a life, can they buy a life?”
“Doors must open at nine o’clock and now its almost ten, why don’t they start their meeting early morning instead of stealing patients’ time.”
But waiting wasn’t the only problem. Toilau Soni, who accompanied her niece and daughter, said what was really sad was the attitude.
“These nurses just walked in with long faces,” she said.
“The way they are moving about their work is so slow they remind me of a snail.
“Mothers and their children have been sitting here for more than two hours and they are still waiting.
“To myself as an honest person that serves Samoa in a different capacity, you don’t have to wait for the time to start especially when people need your services.
“This is why sometimes these kinds of professions ask for a pay rise but do not get it because their attitude and service is so bad.
An email with questions asking for a comment from the National Hospital was not responded to at press time yesterday.
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