Emergency medical services only reach 20% of North West sick patients

22 March 2018

On Tuesday 20 March 2018, during the North West Legislature debate on Health the Democratic Alliance expressed concern regarding the poor response time of emergency medical services in the province.

According to the Department of Health’s provincial report, the general Emergency Medical Service (EMS) operational ambulance coverage has only reached a target of 20%. This implies that emergency services do not reach a total of 80% of people who need urgent medical care.

It is also deeply concerning that almost half of the patients in rural areas do not receive medical services within the targeted response time of 40 minutes.

It is unacceptable that ambulances take hours to respond to medical emergencies, putting the lives of ailing and sick people at risk.

In some cases, ambulances do not even arrive to assist people, especially in the rural parts of the North West.

Those living in urban areas are not spared from the slow emergency medical response. The North West Health report indicates that 50% of people do not get help within the 15 minutes of targeted response time.

The DA also noted the disturbing revelations that the department could only reach a target of 20% when transferring patients from one facility to another. This explains the reported fatalities of patients during transfers.

During an oversight visit by the DA in Ventersdorp and Morekweng on 3 February 2018, it was revealed that an ambulance trip between Morekweng and Ganyesa costs the department R30 000, and a trip between Ventersdorp and JB Marks costs the department a total of R50 000.

To date, the department has neither confirmed or denied these allegations or explaned the reasons for this exorbitant amount. The DA will resubmit formal questions in the Legislature to get clarity on this.

This extremely poor performance by the Department of Health is endangering the lives of the people, putting them at serious risk.

The ANC-led administration has led to the complete collapse of the Health Department, as a result, patients are left without medication, clinics and hospitals are in disarray, whilst the ANC elite enriches themselves through corrupt awarding of tenders.

The people of North West deserve a government that can put measures in place to ensure access to quality healthcare, only the DA can bring this Total Change.

Issued by Tutu Faleni, DA North West Spokesperson on Health, 22 March 2018