The Lower Clinic reports a staffed night whenever a healer has accepted the shift. A review of the roster, cupboard log and referral slips finds no corresponding measure for the time between a call and a healer’s arrival.
We compared the clinic’s posted schedule with the referral copies kept by the ward table. Each record contains a different kind of time: the roster names a shift, while a referral notes when a patient was sent onward. Neither file, on its own, identifies the first call.
The pattern is narrow but consistent. The longest waits described in the ward notes cluster around the change from forge shift to night watch. The clinic’s public summary counts the same nights as covered because the rotating healer remained assigned to them.
The health office says the roster is meant to show coverage, not response. That explanation is supported by the form’s wording, but the office has not produced a second report that measures response intervals. A missing measure is not evidence of neglect; it is a reason the public cannot compare staffing plans on equal terms.
The city has agreed to compare the arrival notes with the night schedule next. Until the first-call record is kept consistently, the exact size of the gap remains unknown.
