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The Democratic Alliance (DA) in Limpopo has written to Limpopo MEC for Health, Phophi Ramathuba, to investigate a report of a woman who was forced to give birth outside Madimbo Clinic in Vhembe.
This comes after a woman arrived at the clinic which is meant to be a 24-hour clinic, during the early hours of this morning. She was denied entry by the security guard and no assistance was forthcoming from anyone in the clinic. The woman eventually gave birth outside the gate, while waiting for the clinic to open, apparently only at 07:00.
This incident is very worrying as this clinic is meant to operate on a 24 hour basis. It completely strips this young mother of her dignity in what should have been a joyous day for her. Not only did the Limpopo Department of Health yet again fail a resident, incidents like this can result in legal claims against the department.
The department is already in a precarious financial position and has over R9 billion in medico-legal claims against it. It cannot allow its facilities and staff to ill-treat and neglect patients in this manner.
MEC Ramathuba and her department must investigate the circumstances around this incident, as well as the reasons why the clinic was not open for 24-hour service, as it should be.
The DA believes that good quality healthcare in rural areas needs to be prioritised to ensure rural communities of their dignity and access to healthcare