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| One of the dilapidated rondavels on site. |
by Khaya Magenu
05 February 2010
THE only structures on site are two appalling rondavels and rusty buildings which are in a state of collapse. Nurses have taken on the duties of doctors because there are only three doctor’s responsible for treating the patients on a daily basis, in an aura of hopelessness, while the relevant authorities drag their feet.
This is the situation one experiences when visiting Greenville Hospital in Mbizana, about 30 kms away from the tarred road near the Wild Coast International Sun in the Eastern Cape. The hospital is severely hampered by the shortage of tuberculosis treatment, old machines and medication. Lack of better services compels the hospital to tranfer its patients to Nelson Mandela Academic Hospital to Umthatha.
Against the background of President Jacob Zuma’s government prioritising better health services for all the people, the communities are complaining about poor service levels at the hospital. Nurses and patients are forced to use open spaces to relieve themselves, sometimes when the engine which pumps the only water supply, is not working.
Furthermore, laundry department workers are forced to go and fetch water from the dams and rivers and patients endure several days without washing their bodies. Since democratic government took over in 1994, there has been no change for the better in the hospital, which is still operating in collapsing, old buildings. The Greenville Hospital workers are struggling to survive under extremely difficult circumstances. They are working in delapidated old buildings and rondavels with holes in the roof, which are dangerous to the patients and staff. Even the people from the nearest other hospital display their anger against the Department of Health.
Fever Publications visited the hospital and observed how the nurses, doctors and patients survive inside the hospital, arguably one of the poorest in the democratic country of South Africa. A local resident said that when they take taxis to the nearest provincial hospitals in KwaZulu Natal, they are turned away to go to their nearest hospital. She said that hospital services has been down fall into clinic services because sometimes nurses, are ostensibly on the grounds but they have no medication. “The situation within the hospital is chaotic and the staff morale is very low because of the bad working conditions” said a spokesperson for the Hospital Board members, who asked Fever Publications not to divulge her name. She revealed that even local clinics are hampered by the severe shortage of critical medication. “One day I visited the hospital and I was shocked to hear that there is no TB treatment,” said a Hospital Board member.
Meanwhile, a Department of Health spokesperson, Sizwe Kupelo, said that tenders to renovate the water system and sanitation has been issued by the Department. He said that they have put aside millions of rand to repair the problems facing the hospital. He also denied that they have a shortage of medication. |
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