Crime puts 24/7 health services under threat
AN ARMED robbery at the Letaba Hospital residence in which three doctors were wounded early yesterday is jeopardising 24-hour health care in Limpopo.
“The health care system in the province is under attack. Crime intelligence needs to be placed in health institutions,” said Limpopo Health MEC Dr Phophi Ramathuba, who visited the hospital shortly after the shooting.
Three medical practitioners – two women and a man – were shot by armed robbers who held them up and robbed them at the hospital outside Tzaneen.
“We are worried about the attack on the health care system because it is clear that not only doctors, but all health care professionals are worried now,” said Ramathuba.
“Our clinics can no longer run 24 hours. You come and open a clinic to run 24 hours, but there are burglaries the next day and the nurses are traumatised.
“Unless as a country you come and support us in making sure that we deal with this issue, we are not going to have clinics running 24 hours,” said Ramathuba, adding that staff had regularly declined to work after hours due to safety.
“The doctors are saying to me ‘enough is enough’, and they are threatening to stop providing any services from 4.30pm because they don’t want to stay in an environment where they are not protected,” she said.
Ramathuba said steps would be taken to put increased security measures in place at the health facilities.
“We are discussing this with the State Security Agency, and the issue is now at the level of both the Minister of Health and the Minister of Police. We have done a lot as a province, and we have engaged the State Security Agency to say that we need criminal intelligence in our hospitals and clinics.”
The three injured doctors were admitted to the hospital and were visited by Ramathuba yesterday. |
ANA-Health-e News