Health MEC pays follow-up visit at St Rita’s Hospital
Glen Cowie
MEC for Health Department in Limpopo, Dr Phophi Ramathuba, said she was impressed that maternal death rate at St Rita’s Hospital has dramatically decreased.
Ramathuba said during her support visit to the hospital at Glen Cowie Village on Tuesday 22 August, aiming to monitor and mitigate some of the challenges and infrastructure issues faced by the hospital at the moment, following her previous visit to the hospital a few months ago.
During the visit, the hospital management took the MEC on a tour where Ramathuba explored various wards monitoring patients waiting period queues as well as the hospital kitchen which was gutted by fire a few months back.
The MEC expressed her concerns with regard to the long queues at both in the Out-Patient Department (OPD) and the pharmacy where patients who came as early as 08:30 in the morning, were still waiting to either get their files, see a doctor or collect medication.
Ramathuba instructed the hospital management to devise strategies on how to address these issues as a matter of urgency.
“There are other areas that I am not happy with them like OPD waiting time. I hope that problems at those areas will be fixed,” she said.
Ramathuba also inspected the hospital’s main kitchen, which recently caught fire to assess the extent of damage and check how the staff is managing under the circumstances.
The MEC discovered that the kitchen is not yet functional as she was told by the management that they are still waiting for the contractor to start with renovations.
Importantly, Ramthuba said she was delighted to see the theatre in maternity completed and fully functional, unlike the last time she visited.
“This theatre will go a long way in the fight against maternal mortality in the hospital. The last time I was here the theatre was not working. Every time there were reasons why the theatre will not work, I am happy that finally, the theatre is working,” she said.
The hospital management committed to providing improved services, including the patients waiting period.
