The Democratic Alliance (DA) in Limpopo is seriously concerned and has written to Limpopo Health MEC, Phophi Ramathuba, to urgently address the lack of ambulances in Musina.
The DA has received numerous reports and complaints that the Emergency Medical Services (EMS) in Musina currently has no functioning ambulances to service the people in the town and surrounding villages.
This issue came to light after people who called the emergency services were informed that there are no ambulances available. They were then provided with contact details for a private ambulance service.
This situation just brings into question how many people in need of emergency medical attention have been left unattended. This is even more concerning considering that the province is in the midst of the Covid-19 third wave.
The shortage of ambulances in the area seems to be a recurring issue. The DA previously raised this issue in 2016 when Musina only had one operational ambulance. It is of utmost importance to rectify this matter in order to avoid the needless loss of life due to delayed or complete lack of emergency medical services.
The Limpopo Department of Health needs to ensure that the EMS services in different municipalities across the province have well-run maintenance plans for ambulances to ensure there are always some vehicles available and that areas with severe shortages are prioritised for the new vehicles.
In her budget speech, Ramathuba stated that the province had commissioned 20 ambulances in August 2020 and the department would be procuring new additional ambulances, Planned Patient Transport and paramedic response vehicles in this financial year.
The DA believes that everyone has the right to have access to quality health care services including properly equipped emergency medical services. We call on Ramathuba to intervene with immediate effect.