Cape Town - Operations at Khayelitsha and Mitchells Plain district hospitals fell under the spotlight this week, following oversight visits.
DA Western Cape spokesperson on health Wendy Kaizer-Philander said an all-of-society approach was needed to address the social pressures faced by the two hospitals, and as a result of socio-economic factors.
This was after an oversight visit to the two hospitals by the standing committee on health this week, to inspect the quality of services rendered.
“Owing to a lot of the stress experienced in the hospitals are due to the societal challenges in the communities, we need to also focus on tending to the root causes of those issues,” Kaizer-Philander said.
“This means we need more preventative measures and will require stakeholders across sectors to work together. It means we need better policing and social interventions so that we can mitigate factors which affect health.”
ANC MPL Rachel Windvogel expressed concern over “poor services” at Khayelitsha District Hospital, and stated that services would continue to worsen until the provincial government allocated the required R150 million to improve services.
“In addition to service pressures, which we witnessed first hand, the CEOs also lamented the over-reliance of the provincial government on agency personnel,” Windvogel said.
“Not only are these expensive, but they also present a lot of other challenges. The department must employ staff permanently and stop wasting millions on agency personnel,” she added.
Mitchell’s Plain United Residents Association deputy chairperson Michael Jacobs said much more could be done by the provincial Health Department to address shortcomings at the Mitchells Plain District Hospital.
“While we appreciate the work staff are currently doing at the hospital, it still needs to significantly boost its number of doctors, nursing staff and support services to render an effective, 24-hour health service,” Jacobs said