We are most disturbed at the videos circulating of a woman being forced to deliver her baby at the gates of a clinic; it is a clear breach of the constitutional right of the patient to access reasonable health care
The widely circulated video shows a patient in final throws of delivery outside a clinic and the recalcitrant behaviour of the nurse is clearly visible.
This inhumane treatment of a patient is not acceptable. While the clinic was only due to open at 7 am in the morning, there can be no justification for the nurse involved not to open the facility and assist the mother to deliver her baby in an acceptable environment.
Equally disturbing is comments made by the Spokesperson of the Department of Health in Limpopo, Neil Shikwambana, who advised that the clinic was no longer a 24 hours clinic and was reduced to opening in daylight hours two years ago and that the community has been informed to utilise other nearby clinics for after hour emergencies.
Shikwambana is obviously out of touch with the reality of communities’ constraints in rural areas.
Clinics are far apart from each other and few are open 24 hours.
Patients are often reliant on taxis to get to clinics, and often have very little in the way of monies to take such trips.
Relying on an ambulance in Limpopo is problematic, as some ambulances have an area of up to 20 000 kilometers to cover.
There is no justifiable excuse for the sister not opening the clinic to ensure a safe and dignified birth for both mother and child.
We will further write to the MEC for Health, Dr Phophi Ramathuba to request that action be taken against the nurse and to provide feedback.
