I urge the East Cape Department of Health to seek advice from the Western Cape Department of Health immediately before health services in our province collapse and patients die from a lack of care.On Thursday, 16 March 2017 the New Brighton Clinic was burgled and vandalised for the fourth time.In an...

Empty promises by the Eastern Cape Department of Health (DoH) have led to its repetitive annual failure to produce an organogram over the last three years. This repetitive failure to plan lets our people down daily as evidenced in media horror stories of untreated wounds, inexplicable in hospit...

The frustrated people of Rosedale in Uitenhage closed their clinic this morning  (subs:  Monday, 27 February) because they had simply had enough.It is completely unacceptable for patients to have to resort to such a drastic measure because the provincial Department of Health has allowed th...

The random closures of clinics in the Buffalo City Metro (BCM) must be addressed by the Department of Health urgently.  People’s welfare and lives are at stake. Yesterday (subs:  Wednesday, 18 January 2017) I was informed that Collondale Clinic in Main Road in East London and which ...

The DA seeks urgent clarity from the MEC for Health, Dr Phumza Dyantyi, about the sudden, week-long closure of the Westbank Clinic in Bank Street in the Buffalo City Metro.  I am dismayed that the clinic will be closed from today (subs: 17 Jan 2017) until 23 January 2017. This facility ser...

Yesterday, I was furious to learn that a group of 11 Pharmacy interns have been informed that intern positions are "oversubscribed".These interns followed the Eastern Cape Department of Health’s (DOH) regulations and submitted paperwork timeously. They received electronic confirmations of placemen...

Inadequate security at clinics in the Nelson Mandela Bay Metro (NMBM) was once again highlighted on Monday when the waiting room of the Lunga Kobese Clinic in Kwazakhele became a life-threatening danger zone.In a well-run province, quality health care would go hand in hand with ensuring the safety o...

Last night, the New Brighton Clinic suffered another break-in, leaving it closed for a second consecutive week.  (For a picture of the state of the inside of the clinic, click here. Last week, the clinic was robbed of its computer as well as all of its recyclable geyser components.The prov...

Continuous break-ins at clinics in the Nelson Mandela Bay Metro (NMBM) must end and the safety of staff and patients must be ensured.  It is a basic right for people to work in a safe environment and for patients to receive proper healthcare. Three horror stories at clinics in the NMBM hav...

The Eastern Cape MEC for Health, Dr. Phumza Dyantyi, cannot allow bumbling bureaucrats to stand in the way of retired officials of her department from receiving their benefits. I have received a number of complaints from retired officials who are facing the injustice of battling to secure benef...

On an oversight visit to three Primary Health Care (PHC) clinics in Port Elizabeth this week, I witnessed first-hand how our country falls desperately short of having an efficient, functioning, service-oriented and patient-centered preventive health care system.I was accompanied by my colleague in t...

The entire Cathcart community is in support of the protest on the N6, which is currently blocking entry to the town.  Major complaints are the decommissioning of the Cathcart Hospital into a Primary Health Care Centre, accusations of a lack of consultation by the Department of Health (DoH), fai...

The septic tank at the Riebeek East Police Station has been overflowing for some time.This constitutes a health hazard and I am proud to say that the DA cares and has taken action to address the problem.Our members tested the water and were shocked to find that it did indeed test positive for Ecoli!...

Student nurses in Port Elizabeth are being locked out of lectures at the Dora Nginza-campus of the Lilitha College if they don’t wear uniforms.  This contravenes the agreement between Lilitha College and the Department of Health, that nursing students may wear their “mufti” (c...

The Democratic Alliance is appalled to read (EP Herald: Letter to the Editor:10/07/15) that Mr Oesterlein's brother cannot rely on state clinics in the Eastern Cape for his medication. The DA will visit the Walmer Clinic and insist  in the Provincial Legislature that the sign stating tha...

The Eastern Cape Health Department unexpectedly reneged on their commitment to provide a year’s supply of enzymes to Arlene Scheepers (5) who is suffering from the fatal Gaucher’s Disease. Arlene’s family lives in the Vastrap informal settlement in the Northern areas of Port...

The Democratic Alliance is shocked by the seemingly callous attitude of the East Cape Department of Health (DOH) in the case of 5 year old Arlene Scheepers, who needs a year's worth of drugs. (The Herald: 19/06/15). According to media reports, the DOH is dithering over a decision to pay for m...

HEALTHCARE MUST CONTRIBUTE TO FREEDOM, FAIRNESS AND OPPORTUNITIES FOR ALL Expand public healthcareDOH relies on 2007 organogramA top heavy budget  Honourable Premier, Madam Speaker, Colleagues and Distinguished Guests. All protocol observed.  Enkosi Kakhulu. Dankie. Thank yo...

This is fundamentally a rights-based health event.  The South African Constitution enshrines the rights of all our people to- inter alia - decent healthcare and freedom of choice. However these rights can be - and are - infringed when the state makes ill considered decisions without refl...

There are substantial differences between a circular regarding the retention of Beyond Zero nursing staff and a whatsapp instruction last week to dismiss staff at clinics in the Nelson Mandela Bay Metro (NMBM). The circular states unequivocally that “…funding has been secured/ co...

On Monday, 13 April 2015, clinic staff from Beyond Zero were “unceremoniously booted out” of clinics in the Nelson Mandela Bay Metro (NMBM).  Facilities Manager at Zwide clinic, Mrs Monteith, was instructed to dismiss the staff by the Department of Health (DOH) via a whatsapp messag...