Whenever Kgabo Thami* (58) from Ga-Kolopo village in Moletji, Limpopo needs to see a medical specialist he prepares for a lengthy journey. He leaves home the day before his appointment and travels to WF Knobel Hospital 25 kms away. Here he will spend the night, and make use of the states’ planned patient transport to get to his oncologist at Mankweng Hospital (81 kms away) in Phalaborwa or Polokwane Provincial Hospital (51 kms away). 

This is a trip Thami has been making almost monthly since 2021 when he was diagnosed with cancer. This is not an isolated case. Many patients have to be ferried from WF Knobel to bigger hospitals in the province’s urban centres. 

Patents’ night experiences

“But on several occasions I, together with other patients who must also go for various specialised treatments, sleep on mattresses on cold floors at WF Knobel Hospital. There are no proper beds for us there,” Thami says. 

“Ideally we should be sleeping in our homes but the distances make it impossible. I live more than 25 km away and there is no early public transport to arrive at WF Knobel Hospital on time to catch the patient transport. Others from various villages suffer the same challenges,” he says. 

The patient transport doesn’t have a set departure time. Patients tell Health-e News that the transport usually leaves WF Knobel anytime from 5am depending on the availability of the driver.  

Jaqueline Mohale* (37) from Ga-Manamela undergoes kidney dialysis weekly at Mankweng Hospital. Since February 2022 she has been travelling 18 km to WF Knobel Hospital where she spends the night, and wakes up in time to catch the patient transport to Mankweng hospital. 

“On some nights you can get a not so good bed if you are lucky. Even a broken bed, worn out mattress or a spongy mat is better than sleeping on a blanket laid on cold floors,” Mohale laments.

Limpopo Health Department responds

Neil Shikwambana, Limpopo health department spokesperson says the affected patients are not allocated beds in the wards because they are not admitted. 

“The only reason these patients come to WF Knobel Hospital is because it is the station where they find planned patient transport. But due to our province being vast, some patients end up coming to the hospital a night before the scheduled date of travel because where they come from there might not be transport to bring them to the hospital in the morning on time.

“So out of humanity the hospital management sees it fit to allocate mattresses so that those people can wait there. Therefore that situation should never be interpreted as an indication of a bed crisis in the hospital,” Shikwambana explains.

Health workers unions know the sleeping problem

Democratic Nursing Organisation of South Africa (DENOSA) in Limpopo has urged the hospital management to ensure that affected patients are not exposed to severe discomfort on top of their existing medical conditions.

“The hospital management has told us that on some days the facility experiences a high influx of outpatients who come for lodging or overnight stay for transfer to Polokwane or Mankweng hospitals. These types of patients are often accommodated in the designated psychiatric cubicles inside the medical ward. The cubicles are used for temporary seclusion of violent and aggressive psychiatric patients and do not need beds,” DENOSA provincial secretary Jacob Molepo says. 

“As DENOSA, we urge management to always ensure these patients on the planned patient transport list are not subjected to unnecessary hazards. Their welfare in the facility should be taken care of.” 

Moses Maubane, provincial secretary of the National Education Health and Allied Workers Union says it has requested a meeting with health MEC Dieketseng Mashego to get her plans for providing relief. 

“We haven’t yet received confirmation from the MEC for a suitable date but the bed crisis is widespread in the province. We have also noted that WF Knobel Hospital experiences a shortage of planned patient transport vehicles and often resort to using Emergency Medical Services (EMS) cars for planned patient transportation. This is problematic and dangerous because it creates shortages of EMS vehicles in times of emergencies.”

Shikwambana says the practice ‘is not out of bounds’.

“Planned patient transportation is part of the EMS fleet including ambulances. You will recall that we have recently added 500 ambulances to our EMS fleet and our aim is to increase our fleet by focusing on planned patient transportation starting this financial year.” — Health-e News

*Not their real names