Exactly one year after the National Council of Provinces (NCOP) visited the Free State province to assess the delivery of healthcare services, the council this week returned to the province to follow up on the provincial department of health’s implementation of its recommendations.
In August last year the NCOP, through its flagship programme of Taking Parliament to the People, conducted oversight visits to various healthcare facilities, including clinics and hospitals in the Mangaung and Xhariep district municipalities. The NCOP also conducted public hearings, where people were given an opportunity to voice their concerns. A report with recommendations was subsequently debated and adopted by the NCOP and later sent to all the spheres of government to act on the recommendations.
This week, a multidisciplinary delegation of NCOP permanent delegates, members of provincial legislatures (MPLs) and municipal councillors split into eight sub-groups to revisit several facilities in the province to follow up on the implementation of its recommendation, as well as report back to the citizens.
One of the first health facilities to be visited was the Klipfontein Clinic, outside Thaba Nchu, where the delegation was not impressed with the slow progress one year later. Mr Eddie Makue, Chairperson of the Select Committee on Trade and International Relations, led the delegation. Some of the findings from last year included a lack of toilets, an open septic tank, and inadequate space, as the clinic is in a four-roomed structure with no little space for a waiting area.
Clinic Manager Mr Joseph Moselesele told the delegation that only two areas have seen any progress since the NCOP visited the clinic in August last year. The septic tank was closed and the toilets were under construction.
The clinic still only opens on Mondays and Fridays, and the other three days in the week it operates a mobile point across nine villages and several farms. Members of the NCOP found this arrangement unacceptable, with NCOP delegate Mr Mntomuhle Khawula asking what happens when people get sick on the other days when the clinic is closed.
“This is not the arrangement we were briefed about last year when we came here. I don’t think there has been much progress,” he said.
The lack of perimeter fencing in the facility did not only pose security risk, but it is a huge health risk, as children play around the yard and there is no proper waste control system. “The lack of a waste control system is a huge risk for infection control. It can cause outbreaks of diseases in the village. It is very important to address that urgently,” said delegation leader Mr Makue.
He also urged the Free State Department of Health to make sure that people in the rural areas have the same right to access quality healthcare services as residents of urban areas. “Very often we forget about people in rural area. People in rural villages have the same rights as people in the city. They must have access to healthcare that is competent, affordable and that will enable them to live a full life,” Mr Makue said.
Responding to most of the outstanding recommendations, health officials made promises of addressing them by March next year, a deadline the NCOP found unacceptable. “This answer of before the end of the financial year is unacceptable. Don’t postpone everything to the end of the financial year,” added Mr Makue.
Sakhile Mokoena
29 August 2018
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