Emergency Centre reopens after fire destroyed it

THE Mitchells Plain District Hospital reopened its Emergency Centre yesterday after a devastating fire destroyed it in February last year.

The hospital serves a population of 550 000 people from the broader Mitchells Plain and Philippi area. Following the fire, the hospital had to set up and provide emergency services in a temporary area with limited space in the hospital’s outpatients area.

During the reconstruction of the Emergency Centre, changes were also made to improve the patient flow. The nurses’ station was moved closer to patient beds and mental health patients will now go directly to the psychiatric ward for assessment and 72-hour observations.

This decision allows more room to treat patients who require emergency care in the Emergency Centre.

The centre now boasts separate sections for adult and paediatric emergency care and consists of four adult resuscitation beds, 13 adult beds for major injuries, a nebuliser area, and six paediatric beds with two separate waiting areas for adults and young children.

Mitchells Plain District Hospital chief executive Hans Human said: “Staff are relieved and excited to move back and provide services in their own space again. Working for the past 20 months in the temporary Emergency Centre was challenging due to the limited space, but we managed to provide the best possible care to all of our patients.”

Mitchells Plain Hospital treats about 4 500 patients a month and sees an average of 350 patients on busy weekends.

Cases include adult medical strokes, heart attacks, pneumonia, adult trauma cases such as gunshot and stab wounds, motor vehicle accidents, adult surgeries from appendicitis to gastrointestinal bleeds, and all paediatric and adult emergencies.

Trained nurses assess patients’ illnesses according to the South African Triage System, which determines how serious a patient’s condition is and how quickly they need to be seen.

The provincial health department has urged patients with non-urgent ailments and injuries to access healthcare at their nearest day clinic or consider attending the 24-hour Mitchells Plain Community Health Centre’s Emergency Centre to alleviate congestion at the district hospital.