Some KZN clinics are 24 000 patients over capacity and need urgent help
3 May 2016
I will write today to the KZN MEC for Health, Dr. Sibongiseni Dhlomo, to seek an urgent appointment with him to discuss problems we identified during an oversight visit conducted with DA KZN MPL Dr. Imraan Kheeka at Lindelani Clinic in KwaMashu, Kwamakhutha Clinic in Umlazi (joined by my colleagueDianne Kohler Barnard MP and Cllr. Andre Beetge) and R.K. Khan Hospital (joined by Rafeek Khan, MPL) in Chatsworth.
At every one of these health-care facilities we found hard-working and devoted health professionals working beyond the call of duty and under great duress in the face of most demanding of circumstances. For example, one clinic was seeing 24 000 patients over capacity in one month without the requisite resources to cater for the excessive patient traffic.
Specifically, at Lindelani Clinic we established that:
- The patient load there was in excess of 24 000 individuals per month;