Why clinic stopped 24-hour service

The Burgersfort Clinic is among some of Limpopo health facilities where 24-hour services to the community have been halted due to rampant crime.

This is according to the health department in response to the incident of a woman who gave birth outside the clinic gate on Tuesday morning amid an outcry that she was not allowed entry.

Department spokesperson Neil Shikwambana said the clinic had been opening at 7am for years due to safety issues.

“Burgersfort Clinic is now a day clinic...  The clinic stopped operating for 24 hours two years ago because of high criminal elements who were threatening nurses during night shifts,” Shikwambana said.

He said while the issues were being resolved, they urged the community to use other clinics that are nearby with 24-hour services.

Shikwambana said they had sent a team to the facility to investigate the incident, adding that it appears that the mother had given birth just 15 minutes after arrival.

“There is also a video depicting community members who are supposedly waiting for the clinic to open at 7am harassing a professional nurse that is trying to assist the woman who seems to have already given birth 15 minutes after her arrival at the gate of the clinic,” he said.

Shikwambana said the department urged pregnant women not to wait until the last minute to get to a health facility when experiencing labour pains.

“The department has a constitutional and service obligation in line with its protocols to ensure that women deliver babies in an environment that is not only safe but also dignified. To this end, the department’s employees are encouraged at all material times to enforce these protocols,” he said.

mahopoz@sowetan.co.za