EC Health looking to improve services at hospitals

The Eastern Cape Health Department says it is looking at ways to improve services at its hospitals and provide quality healthcare. The Department was part of stakeholder engagement to discuss the findings and recommendations of a report conducted by the Commission of Gender Equality on the state of Maternity and Neonatal Healthcare in the province.

The report uncovered worrying conditions which compromise the health services offered to patients at maternal and neonatal wards in the province.

The investigation focused on six hospitals which include Cecilia Makiwane, Dora Nginza, Bhisho, Frere, Livingstone and St Elizabeth.

While the decrease of child deaths at birth in the province is widely welcomed. The report highlights poor infrastructure and staff shortages as main contributing factors to maternal and neonatal mortality in the province.

It has also highlighted a lack of maintenance and poor standards of hygiene in some health facilities. The Commission is concerned that this may infringe on basic human rights.

“We are also seeing reports that are coming up of women that have to wait for a very long time leading to death. There was a woman who died in the OR Tambo after she was turned away number of times. Those are the issues we found. The Department of Health must be able to address, staff capacity, breeding staff morale, psychological support for both staff and patients so there is a lot that needs to be done,” says Legal Office at Gender Equality Commission, Noma-Afrika Wakashe,

“It highlights challenges that we feel should be protected and ones that need to be promoted in terms of the access of help. And use the resources that are there in conjunction with GCE, we will ensure that these recommendations are implemented. The provincial health department has attributed this to budgetary constraints and the Medico Lego claims,” says Eastern Cape Human Rights Commission’s Zukiswa Mqhakanya,

“There is this demand for services, and at the same time. So, we are having to restructure the way we provide services it requires number of interventions and one of the things we have to do is to look at the policy there is an inequitable distribution of resources between public and private sector. We need to find pratical ways to achieve universal healthcare,” says provincial Health Department HOD, Dr Rolene Wagner.

The report further highlighted the lack of specialists in rural health facilities which the department has committed to filling.