The DA in Limpopo has written to Health MEC Phophi Ramathuba to urgently address the deplorable conditions at Shikhumba Clinic near Giyani following a DA oversight inspection. See photos here, here and here
The clinic serves four villages namely Xawela, Mahumani (RDP), Shikhumba and Nsavulani and is poorly equipped to deal with the large volume of patients that visit the facility.
The oversight revealed :
- Main clinic building is dilapidated and is not in use: Community stopped renovation and claim they were promised a new clinic;
- Severe staff shortages – only two nurses were on duty during the oversight and there are no cleaners and other support staff;
- No running water, presenting a major hygiene challenge;
- The toilets are filthy and there is no running water to flush;
- Nurse’s home needs serious maintenance – nurses forced to travel more than 60km to get to the clinic;
- Dysfunctional Baby Warmer machine;
- Clinic runs short of medication for up to a month and the air conditioner is not working in the medication room;
- Doctor only visits every 2 weeks;
- No waiting area for patients and they must wait outside exposed to extreme weather conditions; and
- Borehole and Apollo light are both non-functional.
The poor state of the clinic is also due to the unresolved issue of whether to repair or rebuild the clinic. The Shikhumba community structures have previously raised serious concerns over the department’s plans to repair and maintain the small clinic instead of building a new clinic.
The DA has previously raised both the poor conditions at the clinic and the need to address the concerns of the Shikhumba Community with Ramathuba, who needs to urgently address this situation before conditions worsen.
The DA will continue to monitor this issue to ensure that the Shikhumba community receives an appropriate healthcare facility.