Question NW61 to the Minister of Health

Reply:

The matter of the long queues at the Mayville clinic in ward 101 are known. This clinic is jointly managed by the Provincial Department of Health and eThekwini Metropolitan Municipality. This clinic operates for 5 days from 07h00 to 16h00. The clinic is managed in line with Ideal clinic programme, which has reduction of the long waiting times as one of its objectives. It is a known fact that long waiting times results in long queues in the clinics. Through the ideal clinic, Mayville clinic has been implementing the Integrated Clinic Services Management (ICSM), which directs that there be three streams. The streams are Acute Care; Mother child and Women’s health and the third stream is Chronic care. The implementation of the three streams has resulted in the reduction in the long queues because all users are seen at their own streams and thus avoid users waiting at wrong streams.

The clinic has indeed seen long queues in the past year due to the following problems:

a) All users that come to the clinic must undergo COVID-19 screening as part of the Covid-19 guidelines, and this leads to long queues as each user must be screened as part of the protocols.

b) The need for social distancing of 1,5 meters which adds to the long queues

c) Due to COVID-19 response, the clinic established CCMDD pick up points outside to avoid allowing many patients in the clinic. The outside pick point was closed when the country moved to lower lockdown levels. This led to the sudden increased number of patients who had been receiving their treatment remotely during the hard lockdowns.

The following steps have since been taken to address the situation:

a) The department has assigned 6 more COVID-19 screeners to improve efficiency and reduce the waiting times which lead to long queues

b) The department has implemented the fast queue for people with disabilities and the elderly so that they don’t wait longer hours.

c) There has an engagement with the local leadership to facilitate the reopening of the community halls as external pick up points for CCMDD. This will assist in that the patients do not have to queue at the clinic all at once for collection of chronic medication

The province has started to engage eThekwini Metropolitan Municipality regarding the provincialization of the Personal Primary Health Care Services. Once this clinic is provincialized, the province will be able to start with the extension of hours of services. These actions will address the long queues even after the COVID-19 pandemic.

END.