GEORGE NEWS - Following an incident in which an employer advised an employee, who was feeling ill, to go to the George Provincial Hospital - resulting in the young man waiting in the admission hall for 24 hours - it was deemed necessary to give the following explanation regarding state health institutions.
These health institutions have a strict set of rules that are known by those who use the facilities, but is not fully understood by new patients.
Clinics are the first point of contact for most patients. Primary healthcare services such as Child Health (immunisations, weight, monitoring), Women’s Health (pap smears, screening, family planning, pregnancy), voluntary counselling and testing; chronic care; dental services; nutrition; sexually transmitted illnesses; preventative services; and HIV and AIDS, sexually transmitted diseases and TB (HAST) are rendered at the clinics.
Specialised services such as doctors, dieticians and gynaecologists visit clinics on a bi-weekly or monthly basis. Patients who need these services sooner are either referred to the nearest community day centre or hospital.
A community day centre has all the primary healthcare (PHC) services as well as specialised services such as social workers, physiotherapists, full-time doctors, psychiatrists and gynaecologists. It is also larger than your normal clinic with more staff. Patients are either referred from another smaller clinic or it is their closest facility to home.
Mobile clinic
Mobile buses (21 in the Eden district and Little Karoo) with nurses visit the rural areas. Patients are informed of the routes as well as where they will be and when.
Patients receive PHC services on the buses and those who need extra care will be referred to their nearest clinic.
In the Eden district there are six district hospitals, namely, Riversdale, Mossel Bay, Oudtshoorn, Alan Blyth Ladismith, Uniondale and Knysna Hospital and they are responsible for emergency care/trauma services, general admissions and the admission of referrals from the surrounding PHC services in the district.
District hospitals refer their more serious cases to the George Provincial Hospital.
The situation in George is different to other areas as there is no district hospital in George, only a provincial hospital.
Most patients are referred to George Hospital by their clinics. A number of patients also visit the emergency unit in cases where emergency care is needed. Unfortunately, some patients visit the emergency unit for minor ailments. These patients put extra pressure on the unit and ultimately have to wait for extended periods of time as they will most likely be documented as green and will only be seen after all the other patients that are documented as yellow, orange and red have been seen. In February, George Hospital had 342 green cases at their emergency centre. During the week these patients should have gone to their nearest clinic for treatment.
The mobile buses visit patients in rural areas once or twice a month. Dates and times are communicated to them via their employees or given in advance by the nursing staff in the mobile buses. As explained, these mobile buses render all PHC services. Patients who need further treatment will be referred to their nearest clinic or hospital.
Knysna, Mossel Bay, Oudtshoorn, Riversdale and Ladismith
Each of these towns have a district hospital and numerous clinics.
These towns do not have hospitals. Plettenberg Bay has numerous clinics and a community day centre. Sedgefield, Albertinia and Calitzdorp patients also have access to a clinic. Patients from Plettenberg Bay and Sedgefield will be referred to Knysna Hospital with patients from Albertinia to Riversdale Hospital and Calitzdorp patients to Ladismith or Oudtshoorn. Patients who need emergency treatment should either visit their clinic who will transfer them to the hospital via ambulance or they should phone the ambulance services directly.
ARTICLE: MYRON RABINOWITZ, GEORGE HERALD JOURNALIST
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