The provincial department of health has denied claims that some of its hospitals will be downgraded and some clinics closed, saying the only change is classification of the institutions.
Cathcart Hospital and Cathcart Clinic are two facilities identified for the initial “downgrade” and “closure” respectively, according to the Treatment Action Campaign (TAC).
Deputy director-general for clinical services Dr Patrick Maduna said this was not true.
Late last week, TAC sent a memorandum of demands to the department following a community protest against the “downgrading” of these facilities.
Their demands included an upgrade plan of the hospital as opposed to downgrading; local emergency medical services that do not have to be sourced from East London; that Cathcart Clinic remains open; transparency regarding the hospital’s budget; and that the department consult civil society about these changes.
However, Maduna said: “Cathcart Hospital, according to the hospital gazette of 2012 that deals with classification of hospitals, falls among those hospitals that have less than 50 beds.
“Hospitals that have 50 beds and above are classified as district hospitals, meaning that the hospitals with less than 50 beds have no official classification.
“Over the years in the Eastern Cape these hospitals have been wrongfully referred to as district hospitals.
“What the Eastern Cape department of health is doing this time around is just correcting that abnormality and giving these hospitals their rightful classification, which according to policy is either a community hospital or community health centre.”
Maduna stressed that nothing would change, that this was a mere re-classification of this group of hospitals and the services they provided would stay exactly the same.
Regarding clinics, he said no clinic would be closed. He said these were vital for service delivery and all they could do was to improve them.
He said communities would be made aware of the meaning of this correction.
Maduna said there was a system which managed how health services were provided – a patient ideally moves from their home with a health need to the clinic, the clinic refers the patient to the community health centre which serves a number of clinics. If they cannot meet the need they then refer the patient to the district hospital, which then refers to the regional hospital and finally to a tertiary hospital.
Tertiary hospitals serve the province, regional hospitals serve the region, district hospitals the district, community hospitals serve the sub-district.
“That hospital is dedicated to the community of that local municipality, not to service another district or community,” Maduna explained.
He said the only difference between a community health centre and a district hospital was the size of the hospital.
According to Maduna, 20 other hospitals across the province would also be re-classified accordingly. — vuyiswav@dispatch.co.za
Cathcart hospital change is only in name, says DDG
Cathcart Hospital and Cathcart Clinic are two facilities identified for the initial “downgrade” and “closure” respectively, according to the Treatment Action Campaign (TAC).
Deputy director-general for clinical services Dr Patrick Maduna said this was not true.
Late last week, TAC sent a memorandum of demands to the department following a community protest against the “downgrading” of these facilities.
Their demands included an upgrade plan of the hospital as opposed to downgrading; local emergency medical services that do not have to be sourced from East London; that Cathcart Clinic remains open; transparency regarding the hospital’s budget; and that the department consult civil society about these changes.
However, Maduna said: “Cathcart Hospital, according to the hospital gazette of 2012 that deals with classification of hospitals, falls among those hospitals that have less than 50 beds.
“Hospitals that have 50 beds and above are classified as district hospitals, meaning that the hospitals with less than 50 beds have no official classification.
“Over the years in the Eastern Cape these hospitals have been wrongfully referred to as district hospitals.
“What the Eastern Cape department of health is doing this time around is just correcting that abnormality and giving these hospitals their rightful classification, which according to policy is either a community hospital or community health centre.”
Maduna stressed that nothing would change, that this was a mere re-classification of this group of hospitals and the services they provided would stay exactly the same.
Regarding clinics, he said no clinic would be closed. He said these were vital for service delivery and all they could do was to improve them.
He said communities would be made aware of the meaning of this correction.
Maduna said there was a system which managed how health services were provided – a patient ideally moves from their home with a health need to the clinic, the clinic refers the patient to the community health centre which serves a number of clinics. If they cannot meet the need they then refer the patient to the district hospital, which then refers to the regional hospital and finally to a tertiary hospital.
Tertiary hospitals serve the province, regional hospitals serve the region, district hospitals the district, community hospitals serve the sub-district.
“That hospital is dedicated to the community of that local municipality, not to service another district or community,” Maduna explained.
He said the only difference between a community health centre and a district hospital was the size of the hospital.
According to Maduna, 20 other hospitals across the province would also be re-classified accordingly. — vuyiswav@dispatch.co.za
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