A frustrated individual

 I just had a concversation with an upset man. He gave his name as Damien Uwe Hobona, in the village of Mafhungo/Hubona. I will try to present his narration verbatim as follows:

On 28th of this month I visited a private clinic in Francistown to get advice on diet. A relative works there. I was advised that my medical scheme (BPOMAS) necessitates that I be referred by my doctor, having done tests, to the clinic. It made sense. My relative asked me how I am feeling though. I told him “reasonably fine”. He suggested that he take my blood pressure. I obliged. He took two readings, declared the pressure is fine. Then he took a piece of paper, wrote down the date and wrote down some numbers: Bp ….; Pulse…..; MAP….; Repeat….

He then suggested that if I have reason to suspect that my blood pressure is not O.K. when I am at home in Mafhungo/Hubona village, perhaps the best thing would be to visit the clinic in Mafhungo/Hubona and check my blood pressure, seeing as I do not know how to measure Blood pressure. I told him “Yes, that is a great idea; I never thought of that”. That was because I have never sought medical attention at Mafhungo/Hubona clinic.

So today at about two in the afternoon I felt not O.K. I suspected abnormal blood pressure, so I walked to the Mafhungo/Hubona clinic, some forty minutes away. What I experienced at the clinic was absolutely horrifying! A medical attendant asked me for a card. I said I had none. She said she could not help me, unless I had a medical card. I asked her if that applied to anybody brought in by ambulance. She said “No, that would be an emergency”. I asked her how she could know that my case was not an emergency without taking my blood pressure, at least. At that point I needed to go to the toilet, and so I went to the loo. When I returned about four minutes later, I found an individual wearing white there. Looked like a nurse. She directed the assistant who had earlier engaged me in conversation to take my blood pressure. The assistant did, and declared that my BP was O.K. I sighed with relief. Then I asked if she could please write down the figures on a piece of paper. Though I didn’t tell her so, I wanted to compare today’s readings with the readings I got in Francistown on 28th September. The assistant looked towards the nurse (in white).

The nurse refused to write my readings down, and suggested that I be shown on the machine’s screen. I then asked that they open a medical card for me, since it was my first visit. The nurse, who had taken over the conversation at this stage, told me that they do NOT have cards. I was absolutely shocked by the direction of conversation. The nurse was incredibly rude and hostile. I asked her if she understood what her refusal to write down the measurements she had just taken meant – that if on leaving the clinic I collapsed and died while walking back home, there would be nothing to indicate that I had just visited her clinic, a public facility. She said she did. 

I asked her what her name was. She said “Oboneng”. I aked “Oboneng who?” She said “That’s my surname”. I asked what her first name was; she refused to give. I asked for her Initials; she refused to give. She said “There is only one Oboneng in Mafhungo/Hubona clinic”. I took out my ID card (Omang) and gave it to her. She took it, looked at it and asked “What do you want me to do with it?” I took my ID card back and said to her (nurse) “You will hear from me”, and I walked out of the clinic.

Is this how public servants, particularly health practitioners working for Government should behave towards the public? Where is Oboneng from? Why is she working among people she neither likes nor respects?"