September 2020
BY STAFF REPORTER
Premier, Dr Zamani Saul and MEC of Health in the Northern Cape Lebogang Lekwene launched 11 Emergency Services Vehicles.
Six are for forensic pathology service and five are rescue vehicles.
The Premier said the vehicles are an effort to strengthen emergency services within the health department.
According to the Premier, more capacity has been lacking in the fleet division, thus hampering quality public health care throughout the province.
Saul indicated that the province is doing well in terms of providing healthcare services to its people.
The Northern Cape province has over 160 clinics and Community Healthcare Centres that are operational. “We have 16 hospitals, meaning 75 000 people in the province have access to a hospital,” added the Premier.
He applauded the health sector in the fight against Covid-19 pandemic. He indicated that the department workers managed to stand firm as frontline workers through this difficult time. “They managed to alleviate the impact of COVID in society and curb the transmission by successfully saving lives. They did not even take time to go on leave throughout the peak of the pandemic,” said Saul.
He admitted that the province still has a shortage of nurses and doctors. Saul said, “The challenge is not to build clinics and hospitals, but to increase access to the existing institutions in the province through providing more vehicles, especially to communities in rural areas.”
The Premier promised that more than 40 new ambulances
would be available before the end of this year.
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