Residents from a village near Mooiplaas no longer have to travel long distances to access health services, following the establishment of a health post there.
Zukie Nteyi, an Amahlathi sub-district manager, said a health post is a structure from which the department of health renders services to a specific community.
“If the communities serviced by a clinic are too far, you find they are not fully utilised.”
Nteyi said a health post was usually set up in an old vacant house, or a local hall.
“The health department policy is clear that at the moment they don’t build health posts. Instead the community identifies the space and the department makes that space ready for the services,” she said.
Nteyi said the community had been asking for services to be brought closer to them for almost a decade while still under Great Kei. “There are four clinics in Great Kei serving seven villages and a number of farms. Communities had to travel 12-40km to access services.”
The post has two consulting rooms, a lay counsellor’s room, two waiting rooms, a kitchen where soup will be served to the community each morning and an area where the community can sit and eat. Two nurses, an assistant nurse and three community healthworkers serve there.
The post offers treatment of a range of conditions from minor ailments to dental, circumcision and HIV management. — vuyiswav@dispatch.co.za
Improved healthcare access for Mooiplaas
Zukie Nteyi, an Amahlathi sub-district manager, said a health post is a structure from which the department of health renders services to a specific community.
“If the communities serviced by a clinic are too far, you find they are not fully utilised.”
Nteyi said a health post was usually set up in an old vacant house, or a local hall.
“The health department policy is clear that at the moment they don’t build health posts. Instead the community identifies the space and the department makes that space ready for the services,” she said.
Nteyi said the community had been asking for services to be brought closer to them for almost a decade while still under Great Kei. “There are four clinics in Great Kei serving seven villages and a number of farms. Communities had to travel 12-40km to access services.”
The post has two consulting rooms, a lay counsellor’s room, two waiting rooms, a kitchen where soup will be served to the community each morning and an area where the community can sit and eat. Two nurses, an assistant nurse and three community healthworkers serve there.
The post offers treatment of a range of conditions from minor ailments to dental, circumcision and HIV management. — vuyiswav@dispatch.co.za
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