Laudium clinic needs urgent attention: DA
DA wants Laudium clinic to be upgraded in order to deal with the increasing demand for healthcare services in the area
The DA has called for the department of health in Gauteng to urgently consider upgrading the Laudium clinic in order with the rapid population increase.
Gauteng has continued to accommodate the biggest number of people that are looking for employment and a better life, the capital city is also not spared with the numbers souring from year to year.
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Following his visit to the area DA shadow health MEC Jack Bloom has concluded that the area’s clinic is not capacitated enough to deal with the increasing demand for healthcare needs.
“According to clinic management, the clinic services a population of 356 000, including patients from Laudium, Valhalla, Claudius, Erasmia, Lyttelton, Olievenhoutbosch, Mooiplaas, Itireleng, Atteridgeville and even Diepsloot in Johannesburg,” said Bloom.
Bloom said the increase in patients at the clinic was also due to the soaring number of undocumented foreign nationals who are unable to get help due to paperwork issues.
“Close to half the patients are foreign nationals without any papers, which mean they cannot be put on the chronic medicine dispensing programme to collect their medicines at other locations, which is more convenient for patients and decreases the pressure on the clinic.”
Things had deteriorated so much at the clinic that was first opened in 1982 as a hospital, only to be turned into a community health centre in 1998.
The DA MPL expressed his shock with the long hours that patients have to wait to get help.
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“Parts of the building are in severe disrepair, including a gaping ceiling hole in the maternity section. The maternity and other sections are very overcrowded, with patients crowded into small rooms or corridors without proper ventilation, which increases the risk of cross-infection.”
Bloom has vowed to take up the matter concerning the conditions of the clinic with the provincial government and demands that it be upgraded.
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