HEALTH Minister Dr Joe Phaahla is worried about the Eesterust Clinic near Mamelodi not having enough equipment and staff to provide services to the community.
Phaahla said this when conducting a site visit at the facility in Tshwane on Thursday, 23 November.
He said this is part of an ongoing programme to monitor and assess the state of health service delivery.
Addressing the media, Phaahla acknowledged that there are challenges and other social ills which are common in the area, including substance abuse such as nyaope among young people, which prompts users to vandalise some of the equipment.
“My sense after the briefing by the management is that this is a facility which provides key services to the community. They are doing their best as management and for us with the province we have identified some of the areas where there can be improvement that can lead to this health centre providing services for 24 hours,” Phaahla said.
ALSO READ: Journalist: Councillor kicked me in the 4-5!
He further said improving relationships between health workers and patients is important to provide mentorship, especially for the younger staff.
“We also have a responsibility to make the working conditions more conducive even in terms of expanding the staff so that we ease pressure from them,” he said.
“We have been here to see the extent to which the facility is functioning and a lot of demand in services and the pressure faced by the staff. The staff is doing their best to ensure that patients are attended to until they receive their medication. All what we can do as national government is to support them.”
Gauteng Health and Wellness MEC Nomantu Nkomo-Ralehoko said that staff personnel will be beefed up, and the issue of equipment will be addressed to speed up the process of records management.
