SPOTLIGHT: Health in the Northern Cape, Part One: Disturbing visions from SA’s forgotten province By Spotlight
Health services in large parts of the Northern Cape have virtually collapsed with communities mostly being served by overstretched nurses struggling to cope with the disease and injury burden. The challenges are overwhelming. Qualified doctors, specialists and professional nurses are as scarce as water in this arid province.
We travelled a circular route through the province and clocked up about 2,000 kilometres of mostly dirt and some tar road visiting doctors, healthcare workers, patients and some of the very few activists in the province. We passed through towns and small outposts, some just blip on the radar long past their heyday. Signposts hinting at suffering whizz by – Sweetfontein , Omdraaisvlei , Uitlvlug and so on.
There are also serious questions around the awarding of the aeromedical ambulance service contract in the Northern Cape which has gone to a company that, by all accounts, failed to conduct outreach services in the province when it had the previous contract. For many years such aeromedical outreach programmes were an effective way to get specialist care to various outposts in South Africa’s largest province.3.
Keimoes and Kakamas Community Health Centres are buildings posing as health facilities. When Spotlight visited the two health centres, they were being run by only a handful of nurses trying to hold the fort, basic medical supplies were out of stock, a long list of drugs were out of stock and some hospital board members were being accused of illegally receiving government tenders.
The DA in the province also expressed interest in commenting and said it had lots to say, but later indicated it was also busy preparing for the elections. How are admin clerks recruited and placed in clinics? Is this done in consultation with the facilities where they will be placed? Does the NCape DOH currently have a doctor or nurse employed in a facility with a track record of substance abuse? Including a criminal record?Has there been a circular to staff informing them of the name change of Kimberley Hospital to Robert Sobukwe Hospital? Please can you share it?How many EMS personnel are employed that are higher than BLS? Please give breakdown between ILS and ALS?
Please can you supply an update on the Psychiatric Hospital in Kimberley? When will it open, what the reason for the delay is, etc?Were the old De Aar hospital buildings gutted with the approval of the health department? If yes, who was the contract given to and how much was paid to the department?Is there a plan to clean up the medical waste still on the grounds at the old De Aar hospital?How much money is paid for security at this hospital?Please confirm that the casualty ward is run by...
South Africa Latest News, South Africa Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
News24 projects: DA to win the Western Cape, ANC to win Northern CapeNews24 can project that the DA will hang onto the Western Cape, beating back a strong effort by the FF Plus and with the ANC losing support in the province.
Read more »
Western Cape: A province that doesn't follow election trendsA poll by MarkData suggests the DA has lost a quarter of its support in the province and a coalition government could be in the offing.
Read more »
Western Cape: A province that doesn't follow election trendsA poll by MarkData suggests the DA has lost a quarter of its support in the province and a coalition government could be in the offing.
Read more »
WATCH: Voting in Northern Cape goes ahead despite rain, minor protests | IOL NewsThe Freedom Front Plus leader in the Northern Cape, Wynand Boshoff, said that the rain has put “somewhat of damper” on today’s voting. Elections2019 MzansiVotes SAElections
Read more »
Northern Cape prefers status quo🔒 The ANC in the Northern Cape says the chances of the party falling below 50% in the provincial election are near nonexistent. But the DA has its sights on the province in next week’s elections. SAElections2019.
Read more »
Northern Cape man shamed for shooting leopard | IOL NewsA Northern Cape man who apparently shot a leopard in a gin trap has been shamed on social media.
Read more »
Failing health system in spotlight ahead of electionSouth Africa's healthcare system has been a political battlefield ahead of the May 8 general election.
Read more »
North West province welcomes 13 health specialistsThe newly appointed specialists are working for Klerksdorp-Tshepong Tertiary Hospital Complex.
Read more »
Rain, protest dampen election spirits in parts of the Cape | Election | M&GSAElections2019: The IEC in the Western Cape says it is being kept abreast of sporadic protest action in parts of the province.
Read more »