Eastern Cape clinics were already dire – and then a pandemic swept in to make them worse

Willie said she spoke to some patients during the visit who complained about being turned away because clinics didn’t have chronic medication. “In some facilities where staff had tested positive for Covid-19, clinics closed, making it impossible for users to access health care … We were also informed that due to fears of Covid-19, some clinics had resorted to dispensing medication through the fence. This is a clear violation of the right to privacy, which can also serve as a deterrent to patients who need to access HIV and TB medication due to fear of stigma.”

At Laetitia Bam Day Hospital, the largest clinic in KwaNobuhle, a nurse working in the trauma section told officials: “Patients are using a bed that is 15 years old. We always stand next to this bed because it’s unstable if you lean on it.” She also complained about how small the trauma unit is and that paint was peeling off its walls.

In the courtyard area, dozens of patients sat outside, against the wall while it was drizzling. Most of the clinic space was cordoned off due to a R3.9m refurbishment project under way. Construction was to have been completed in November last year.

Yawa asked staff about the incomplete project. “Why are our people subjected to these conditions of sitting outside while it rains? Why has a project that was supposed to be completed last November not been finished?”

Clinical manager Phindi Ketshengane replied, “The refurbishment project will be completed. All the clinics in Nelson Mandela Bay were sponsored with tents in the past, for patients to sit in them and be safe. Those tents were taken away by the donor, because they were only for a certain period.”

At Lukhanyo Clinic in Khayamnandi, patients in wheelchairs are seated outside for about 30 minutes because the clinic is too small and has no waiting area inside.

Yawa told the delegation that he could only describe Lukhanyo Clinic as a toilet, because it was very small. He said cardboard boxes were scattered about its passages.

Facility manager Thumeka Xentsa said the clinic served more than 10,000 people in and about Despatch.

Xentsa told the delegation: “When you are three staff members and you want to talk with one nurse, you must go outside into the yard because we don’t have space in here.”

At Gustav Lamour Clinic in Despatch, Yawa told the nurses and facility manager Elaine September that he had “thought this clinic is a tuck shop”.

The clinic, made out of prefabricated material, has been burgled several times and computers were stolen.

September said: “The clinic was closed once for a week during lockdown as the staff who tested for Covid-19 were waiting for their results.”

Yawa said TAC and its partners would continue their efforts to get government officials to account for the deplorable state of facilities and poor access to health care exacerbated by the pandemic.

This article was first published on GroundUp