Question NW818 to the Minister of Health
19 April 2024 - NW818
Tito, Ms LF to ask the Minister of Health
Whether he has been informed that the Betty Gaetsewe Clinic in Kimberley in the Northern Cape is turning away patients without them being attended to, due to nursing staff shortages; if not, why not; if so, what steps will he take in this regard?
Reply:
According to the Northern Cape Department of Health, Betty Gaetsewe Clinic has seven Professional Nurses, sufficient to run the facility according to Workload Indicator for Staffing Needs(WISN) prescripts. On the day of the incident, 22 February 2024, which may have left an impression that patients’ are turned away, three professional nurses were booked off sick. In addition another nurse was out in the field with the Human Papilloma Virus Vaccination campaign, while another was on annual leave. The number of professional nurses was thus reduced to three.
When the health district became aware of the situation, it seconded one professional nurse from Galeshewe Day Hospital to work at the clinic for a period of two weeks to mitigate the challenge. The number of professional nurses increased to four on that particular day and going forward.
The situation has since returned to normal.
END.