Health services in the Northern Cape continue to shrink amidst worsening personnel and resource-related shortages, with the Brandvlei Community Health Centre (CHC) being the latest casualty of the ailing health department.
Oversight inspections have confirmed that, since July 2023, the CHC has been operating with reduced hours, only opening during the day as opposed to offering 24-hour services. This is the result of nurse and security staff shortages.
With regards to nursing staff, the facility has five as opposed to nine personnel members. We acknowledge that two posts were advertised and are in the process of being shortlisted. The problem remains that there are too few staff members to do shifts, causing burnout.
Security is also non-existent. This makes staff vulnerable, especially when working with aggressive patients. The facility usually functions with a few nursing staff members, who are mostly women, making them easy targets for criminals. In addition to the absence of security officials, there is a lack of security measures, including zero access control.
Ambulance services are also operating with only three people instead of a minimum of four. The EMS personnel are not adequately trained to handle maternity cases and when someone goes into labour, a nurse has to accompany the ambulance for the 150 km trip from Brandvlei to Calvinia.
In addition, the ambulance is used as a patient transporter on Tuesdays and Thursday, to take patients to Upington for dialysis treatment. When emergencies arise, the Calvinia control centre has to be called on to send an ambulance to Brandvlei, which can prove fatal in a life-or-death situation.
I have approached the Namaqua District Health Office and also referred the matter for the attention of the MEC of Health. The DA is appealing to the health department to speed up appointments, give attention to the ambulance shortages, and institute security measures ahead of the looming festive season, when there tends to be an increase in crime and related medical emergencies.