Eastern Cape’s failing primary healthcare facilities

Dear MyPE

Today I, together with the DA’s provincial Shadow MEC for Health, Celeste Barker, conducted an unannounced oversight inspection to the Soweto-on-Sea Clinic in Port Elizabeth.

Clinics in the Nelson Mandela Bay Metro, under the management of the ANC-led Eastern Cape Department of Health, are failing the residents of the City due to a lack of staff and equipment and poor facilities. The Soweto-on-Sea Clinic is one of the most affected facilities.

This clinic is the size of two RDP houses and therefore very small. Over the last three months the clinic serviced close to 10 000 patients whilst only having five professional nurses – far too few to efficiently service the healthcare needs of the community. The clinic also has to make do without any assistant professional nurses and only two caregivers are available.

The situation is worsened by the fact that a doctor visits the clinic only once a week for only four hours. This is hopelessly inadequate as this clinic sees more than 3 000 patients per month.

The clinic only has one pharmacy assistant in the dispensary and she has to attend to 120 patients on a daily basis.

In the waiting area there is also no separation between people with infectious diseases such as TB and other patients. The building is overextended and the department must be petitioned to urgently extend the facility and appoint more staff.

We will now escalate this matter to the provincial Legislature and demand the department give feedback on plans to improve the situation at the Soweto-on-Sea Clinic.

The 2019 general election is looming and the Democratic Alliance stands firm in its resolve to take over the government of the Eastern Cape and provide quality healthcare and wellness to the people of the province.

The ANC has failed the people of this province, and the time for Change under a DA government is imminent.

Regards

Nqaba Bhanga
DA Eastern Cape Provincial Leader