The Democratic Alliance (DA) has requested the MEC of Health to urgently find a solution to a barrage of ambulance failures being experienced in the Williston area.
Although Williston has its own ambulance, emergencies are responded to by an ambulance from Fraserburg or Calvinia, following the resignation of the driver. These towns are 90 kilometers and 115 kilometers away respectively, taking at least one and a half to two hours, for an ambulance to reach Williston.
The DA is aware of at least three incidents that arose over the past couple of weeks, whereby the delayed provision of emergency medical services (EMS) proved detrimental to the health and possibly even the survival of patients. A seven-month old baby in distress passed away by the time the ambulance arrived in Calvinia. A mother, who was almost full term and was experiencing complications, suffered a miscarriage by the time she reached Calvinia. In another incident, a woman who was knocked over by a car, lay in the street for two hours, supported by members of the South African Police Service (SAPS), waiting for an ambulance.
The situation has become a life-or-death situation for residents of Williston.
Patient transport is also unreliable. Patients regularly miss appointments at the tertiary hospital in Kimberley because the drivers cancel trips, based on overtime restraints. Appointments have to be rescheduled, causing sick patients to get sicker while they wait.
During his budget speech, Health MEC, Maruping Lekwene, indicated that the department would procure 30 ambulances and eight patient transport vehicles. More, however, must be done to appoint drivers and recruit and train EMS personnel to ensure that all vehicles are operationalized.
The DA has requested the Health Department to find a solution to the current EMS crisis in Williston. We have also reported the Williston ambulance complaints to South African Human Rights Commission, to add to the growing case file on EMS failures.
Aside from the annual purchase of replacement EMS vehicles, the Health Department must work with greater urgency to develop and implement a plan to address its increasingly deadly EMS services.