Settlers' Hospital has made dramatic improvements in its ability to serve Makana in the past year. Jacob Ross-Ewart reports on a high-profile delegation's glowing assessment of the hospital this week.
Settlers' Hospital has made dramatic improvements in its ability to serve Makana in the past year. Jacob Ross-Ewart reports on a high-profile delegation's glowing assessment of the hospital this week.
“This is the kind of progress we’d like to see in the province – in the whole country.” That was the pronouncement on Settlers' Hospital by Sam Mazosiwe, an Eastern Cape member of parliament who was in town on Wednesday as part of a government delegation sent out to monitor service-delivery in the province.
Last year, the National Council of Provinces (NCOP) sent its members out to sites across the country that had been highlighted by provincial governments as being areas in desperate need of improvement. The council compiled a report making recommendations to the national government on spending increases, infrastructure needs and other necessary changes.
Now, nearly 12 months later, the NCOP is checking up to see what progress has been made. In Makana, Settler’s Hospital was targeted for inspection, with a particular focus on improvements to maternity, dental, and outpatient services.
Mazosiwe’s visit did not begin smoothly – due to what appeared to be a break-down in communication. The hospital did not appear to be expecting them and the group had to wait outside for nearly an hour before being allowed in. Once the confusion was cleared up, however, things went smoothly, with a large group of department representatives and matrons ushering the delegation through the halls. The first stop on the tour was the new area for termination of pregnancy.
One matron acknowledged that in the past these procedures had been performed in back rooms with improper sanitation measures, and women often became infected. Since April, however, they have had a dedicated ward, where a trained nurse performs the terminations.
Although technically an outpatient procedure, there is also a ward where patients are kept to have their vital signs monitored, with two doctors on call. The matron proudly informed Mazosiwe that since the nurse had been hired in May, they had performed 124 termination procedures, with no complications.
Further stops revealed that a new dental care facility is almost complete, only waiting on the arrival of a new X-ray machine. Settlers' public outpatient ward was also on display. Mazosiwe had some concerns about the ability of the hospital to identify patients in need of treatment in outlying areas of Makana but, after extensively questioning the matron, seemed satisfied that three mobile clinics were improving their effectiveness.
Speaking to reporters at the end of the tour, Mazosiwe said his delegation had seen signs that the health care system in the Eastern Cape was improving. The public-private partnership system at Settlers', he said, was a significant factor in its ability to provide a better standard of care to its patients. In other areas where no such set-up existed, the hospitals were in a much worse condition. He said he was satisfied that the NCOP’s recommendations from last year had been implemented.
