Question NW377 to the Minister of Health
07 March 2024 - NW377
Mohlala, Ms MR to ask the Minister of Health
What measures has his department taken to ensure that healthcare facilities in areas such as Kimberley have reliable access to (a) water, (b) electricity and (c) sufficient staffing to provide adequate healthcare services?
Reply:
a) The National Department of Health requirements is that each facility should have clean water. New clinics that are constructed in the Northen Cape province, particularly around Kimberley since 2011/12 are provided with water supplied though municipality line and back up water system through boreholes. Facilities that were build prior 2011/12 that does not have back up water system are attended to through Borehole Water Programme.
A service provider has been appointed during 2003/24 financial year in Robert Mangaliso Sobukwe Hospital (RMSH) in Kimberley to build a 2 Mega Liters (2 million litters) water tanker as additional water capacity to the current 360,000 Liters.
b) All facilities around Kimberley have electricity and some also have back up generators. There is a program running to provide generators to facilities that don’t have any back up system. The province is also benefiting from People Republic of China donated generators. Robert Mangaliso Sobukwe Hospital is also equipped with GenSets in case of electricity went off during loadshedding.
c) Ideally the Department of Health wishes to fill all health care worker posts in order to improve the health outcomes of the population. Due to current financial constraints, annually, the Provinces appoint Employment Recruitment Teams led by Heads of Health Departments or delegated officials at senior level to develop recruitment plans, prioritising the filling of critical posts with required skills mix. However, they must guard against overspending on provided / available budgets.
END.