Two rural healthcare heroes honoured

Attracting health workers to rural parts of the province has been a major headache of the health department for years.

However, those who choose the path of rural health are paving the way for future employees in this sector.

At a national Rural Doctor’s Association of South Africa (Rudasa) conference held in Grahamstown recently a number of healthcare practitioners at the outskirts were recognised for their outstanding work.

This year’s awards were:

lRural doctor of the year, which went to Dr Nomlindo Makubalo from the Eastern Cape;

lRural rehabilitation person of the year – audiologist Lineo Lecheko from Zithulele Hospital in Mqanduli, Eastern Cape;

lLifetime achievement award – Dr Victor Fredlud, Mseleni Hospital, KwaZulu-Natal;

lRural nurse of the year – Sister Charlotte Stemmet, who works in a mobile clinic in Breede and the Western Cape Winelands; and

lClinical associate of the year – Prince Maletje Maleka for his street medicine project in Tshwane.

The conference, held this month, is in its 20th year. Its rich history traces back to a group of rural doctors coming together to workshop and share their experiences and challenges with meetings held in traditional rural huts or even tents. It was during these meetings that Rudasa was formed.

Now Rudasa partners with Rural Rehabilitation SA, the Professional Association of Clinical Associates and the Rural Nurse Association to bring the conference to life.

Of the two Eastern Cape practitioners acknowledged this year, one of them won the highly coveted rural doctor of the year award.

Winner Nomlindo Makubalo was born east of the Kei river. After matriculating in 1991 she opted for a diploma in medical technology at the Peninsula Technikon in Cape Town.

Her first choice was medical school to become a doctor but financial constraints deferred that dream. After the Pen-Tech diploma she worked for two years as a medical technologist at Mthatha General Hospital.

However Makubalo kept the dream in sight, and with the help of a bursary she graduated from medical school at the University of Cape Town (UCT) in 2003. The following year she interned at Frere Hospital in East London and did her community service at St Barnabas Hospital in Libode near Port St Johns. At St Barnabas she was put in charge of the paediatric ward and the successes and challenges of this experience inspired her to specialise in paediatrics.

Ten years ago Makubalo was a senior medical officer at Red Cross Children’s Hospital in Cape Town, where she earned a diploma in child health.

In 2011 she was awarded a fellowship in paediatrics. But her path has not been smooth all the way, and the discovery, after numerous ICU admissions, that she has an acute latex allergy was a big knock. Wearing latex gloves, so essential when dealing with patients, is an absolute no-no for her.

Not to be deterred, Makubalo completed an advanced health management programme with the Foundation of Professional Development (a South African private institution of higher education), co-certified with Yale University in 2013 and this led to her current post: district clinical specialist in paediatrics in Nelson Mandela Bay, with a mandate to reduce maternal and child deaths.

Using the child problem identification programme – a mortality audit tool to monitor and improve the quality of care children receive at health facilities – Makubalo identified a gap in her knowledge which saw her studying towards a diploma in HIV.

She now uses her HIV knowledge to support facilities in improving the care of HIV-infected children. She is also soon to graduate with a diploma in community paediatrics through the Red Cross Hospital and UCT.

Makubalo has trained doctors and nurses in remote areas to help babies breathe, manage frail neonates, do emergency triage work and do early identification and referral of children with genetic conditions.

She opened the only genetic clinic in the province at Dora Nginza Hospital in Port Elizabeth and supports doctors and nurses in all the districts.

Makubalo said she receives her strength from God by acknowledging that her job is a calling. She is inspired to care and make a difference.

Her church and family are her support and strength. In her spare time she enjoys church activities, quality time with family and poetry.

Said Makubalo about this month’s award: “I feel humbled and honoured at the same time. I feel I have made a difference because there are other people who support my efforts.

“The award is dedicated to those who work hard to improve service delivery and the quality of care we provide to our community. There is still more work to be done, I feel I have only done 5% of what needs doing.”

As though cut from the same cloth, both Eastern Cape-based winners have made an enormous contribution in their various sectors, and are hailed for their feminine heart and passion in the execution of their duties, at times going far beyond the call of duty.

Audiologist Lecheko graduated from the University of KwaZulu-Natal and did her community service in Mthatha, from where she proceeded to work in Komani’s Frontier Hospital.

In 2010, a visit to Zithulele Hospital with an outreach called Hear Now South Africa would see her returning to form part of the clinical team there three years later.

For the first two years Lecheko was a “one woman team”. Last year, however, Pamela Ntutuka, a community service audiologist, joined her.

Said Ntutuka of Lecheko: “For the year I worked with Lineo at Zithulele Hospital I was in awe of her skills and the manner in which she treats her patients. She is extremely hard working, motivated, goal-driven and passionate about her profession.

“Running a department can be strenuous and overwhelming but there is never a challenge too big for Lineo and she always gives her very best to every patient she sees.

“I value how she always goes the extra mile to ensure that the patients of Zithulele are satisfied with audiological services and are receiving effective management.”

Zithulele clinical manager Dr Ben Gaunt described Lecheko as “an excellent team player, reliable (an essential trait when building a new service) and an incredible asset to the community”.

“She has set up and runs what is practically a gold-standard audiology service despite our extremely rural location,” he said.

When Lecheko arrived at Zithulele the services were still in the early development phase and the department had not been able to procure much equipment.

Hearing aids were, at that stage, only accessed via Mthatha.

Three and a half years later, the picture is very different.

Lecheko’s drive and commitment to improve the audiology service caught the attention of the provincial treasury, which helped fund equipment worth more than R1-million at that facility. Her department now boasts a state-of-the-art booth, otoacoustic emissions (OAE), tympanometer, auditory brainstem response (ABR) and a kuduwave mobile machine.

This has given the service the ability to screen newborns, provide clinical outreach services and school outreach services, and offer hearing aid fittings at Zithulele.

Gaunt said Lecheko “has been a critical partner in the MDR-TB programme and this has led to the hospital having one of the most reliable screening programmes and generally excellent audiology outcomes”.

Lecheko has decided to document this work and is currently doing a masters thesis on the topic.

Said Ntutuka: “ has impacted the clinical team and majority of the patients positively.

“I remember last year most patients who had been fitted with hearing aids by Lecheko … would walk to the hospital from as far as Jalamba or Nzulwini after harvesting season to give her something from their gardens to show how grateful and appreciative they are.

“Hearing aid fittings give her particular pride and joy.

“She always used to say that making someone hear again – seeing how happy they are when they are connecting to the hearing world again – is her greatest achievement.

“It gives her great satisfaction with her work.”

Said Lecheko about the recognition from Rudasa: “I feel very privileged to have been honoured in such a way, and I’m truly grateful to those who nominated me.

“I want to say thank you to the wonderful team I work with as most of my work I could not have achieved if not for such an amazing team.” — vuyiswav@dispatch.co.za