– Overworked staff at Sarah-Strauss Clinic on a go-slow.
– Northern Cape health department must prioritise personnel appointments and support.
– Community deserves well-resourced health care facility.
As healthcare workers at the Sarah Strauss Clinic in Upington reach breaking point, the Democratic Alliance (DA) is calling on the Northern Cape Department of Health to urgently address severe staffing shortages, deteriorating infrastructure and unsafe working conditions at the facility.
Despite visits and commitments made by the MEC for Health and the Head of Department, no improvements at the clinic have materialised. Repeated engagements with district and local management have also failed to yield results.
DA Health portfolio committee member in the Northern Cape Provincial Legislature, Isak Fritz, raised these concerns during legislature briefings last week, and will place the matter before the department during engagements scheduled for this week.
The clinic has lost five professional nurses and two assistants in recent years, yet these critical vacancies remain unfilled. As a result, a single nurse is often expected to attend to up to 100 chronic patients per day. Queues of more than 70 sick patients, including babies and pregnant women, are also a daily occurrence. When staff members fall ill, the workload is transferred to the remaining nurses.
Healthcare workers report being overworked, overwhelmed and unsupported, with reports of no overtime compensation despite operating under extreme pressure and increasingly difficult circumstances.
The clinic’s infrastructure is also in a state of decline. Patients have no access to a functioning toilet, there is inadequate shelter from the harsh summer sun, and maintenance issues remain unresolved despite repeated requests for intervention.
Safety remains another major concern. Staff have reported incidents of violence and intimidation within the clinic, including threats involving knives. Yet despite these serious incidents being brought to the attention of management, no action has been taken to improve security.
Healthcare workers feel abandoned by government officials and have embarked on a go-slow, with only emergency cases being prioritised as workers struggle to cope with impossible demands.
In the meantime, patients are suffering and unable to collect their medications.
This situation cannot be allowed to continue. Communities deserve access to well-staffed, properly resourced healthcare facilities, while healthcare workers deserve the support and conditions necessary to provide the quality care their patients depend on.