In October last year, Eastern Cape Health MEC Nomakhosazana Meth announced a three-phase plan to address key challenges with the province’s emergency medical services. Siyabonga Kamnqa visited All Saints Hospital in Ngcobo – one of the 28 priority hospitals targeted in the plan to see what progress has been made.
An ongoing strike by emergency services personnel in the Amathole and King William’s Town areas is putting strain on rural healthcare users needing emergency care. Some healthcare workers say the situation is dire with emergency cases piling up. Luvuyo Mehlwana reports.
Staff shortages, lack of equipment, and not having enough ambulances on the road are all challenges hampering response times and the quality of emergency medical services (EMS) in the Northern Cape. Refilwe Mochoari spoke to relevant stakeholders, including healthcare users and EMS staff about these perennial problems and what is needed to fix them.
Hours waiting for emergency medical services, medicine shortages, high travel costs, and long walking distances to clinics. These are some of the issues rural communities in the North West face when trying to access healthcare services. Meanwhile, expensive mobile clinics purchased from the Gupta-linked Mediosa are gathering dust. Nthusang Lefafa spoke to community members in some of these rural communities and the provincial health authorities.
When healthcare workers or patients walk into healthcare facilities, the last thing on their minds should be whether they might be robbed or assaulted. Unfortunately, the safety of healthcare workers and patients has been compromised in some areas. Tiyese Jeranji reports on safety and security at health facilities and in communities where emergency medical services are required in the Western Cape.
Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs), commonly known as drones, have been used for more than two decades to deliver medical supplies and food aid to disaster-hit areas – and new uses for these devices are constantly being found. Siyabonga Kamnqa looks at where and how drone technology is used in South Africa’s healthcare services.
It is more than a year since Spotlight visited the Xhora Mouth area in the Eastern Cape to report on the locals’ challenges in accessing health care services. Now, a year later, not much has changed. Luvuyo Mehlwana reports.
Much has been reported on alleged corruption and governance failures in the Eastern Cape Health department that have devastating consequences for health services to those most in need. This is also true for inadequate Emergency Medical Services in the province. Nontsikelelo Mpulo and Thokozile Mtsolongo argue that solutions to the province’s EMS woes should start with improved spending of available budgets.
In South Africa responding to medical emergencies can mean risking your life, possible assault and losing some of your belongings. The COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated and added to these daily challenges faced by paramedics. Melissa Javan investigates.
The reinstatement of the ban on the sale of alcohol may have come as a surprise to many, but evidence suggest that it will have a significant impact on trauma and hospital capacity in the coming weeks. Elna Schütz investigates.
The recent suspension of Professor Ebrahim Variava and the subsequent lifting of his suspension briefly placed the North West Department of Health in the national spotlight – a department that has been under administration for over two years. Marcus Low asks whether the latest developments are just a blip on the department’s road to recovery, or are they symptomatic of still deeply entrenched dysfunction.
State capture and corruption casts a long shadow over all spheres of the public service, including healthcare. For our World AIDS Day edition of Spotlight Mark Heywood takes on this difficult topic. We’re publishing this important article online today ahead of its publication in print.
