Molefi Sompane
The Free State Health Department is turning to digital innovations to streamline healthcare services and improve patient and healthcare outcomes. The province recently launched its digital health strategy with the focus on four key projects. The first project is telemedicine. Speaking at the launch event, health MEC Mathabo Leeto, describes the technology as “game-changing”. “It brings specialists directly to patients, regardless of their location. Imagine a resident of a remote township in Xhariep consulting a cardiologist in Bloemfontein, all from the comfort of their local clinic,” she says. The second project signals a move away from paper records. “The department is saying goodbye to mountains of paper and hello to a streamlined, digital system. Patient records will be accessible electronically, improving efficiency, reducing errors, ensuring continuity of care. This will gradually help the department to respond more effectively to the ever increasing medico-legal challenges,” says Leeto. “We also have an
The South African Weather Service has advised people to drink a lot of water during the heatwave that’s hit the country. But this is a big ask of people in Mangaung in Bloemfontein who have been without water for over a week now. “We lack water at the clinic and our people should drink a lot of water whilst enduring the heat. We have treated three people who had signs of dehydration and they were put on a drip and they have since been released,” says Vuyisile Xhaka Xhaka, a nurse at Potlako Motlohi clinic in Botshabelo. “The heat doesn’t only cause dehydration, it can destroy someone’s skin. People should use umbrellas, wear long-sleeve clothing and hats when going out in the sun. We know that the sun can cause skin cancer. They should use sun block on their skin for protection.” High temperatures are predicted to persist into the
Poor maintenance and water shortages are causing further delays in finishing the construction of the theatre unit at the Boitumelo Hospital in the Free State according to Montseng Tsiu, chairperson of the provincial legislature committee on education, health and social service. Tsiu and other members of the committee recently visited the construction site to monitor the delays in construction at the biggest hospital in the Fezile Dabi District. She says she is worried about delayed progress since her last visit to the site eight months ago when she was still the MEC for health in the province. “This construction has taken an unnecessarily long time due to the first contractor abandoning the work without clear explanation. I believe the completion of the remaining work will be done by the beginning of the new year,” Tsiu says. Last year Tsiu announced Boitumelo Hospital as one of the hospitals that received “ideal”
It’s been more than three weeks since Mangaung Metropolitan Municipality in the Free State collected refuse in the Bloemfontein inner city and surrounding areas. Some residents have resorted to using their own transport to collect the waste. The municipality says it is running short of fuel to power the garbage trucks. This is not the first time that a fuel shortage has brought services to standstill. The ongoing backlog has resulted in rubbish piling up in public spaces. People’s livelihood and business are being affected. Bad for business Hawkers are also complaining. Mathapelo Dikgacoi, who is a food vendor, says she tries to keep her workstation clean. But many of her customers are turned away by the terrible smell. “The amount of dirt in town due to the failure of workers to collect refuse is costing us. I no longer make profit because of rubbish next to where I sell
The Free State health department recently launched a programme to have medication for chronic conditions delivered to elderly patients’ homes. Deliveries will be made by health assistants or community health workers. These are usually community members who are trained in specific interventions such as health promotion and treatment literacy. In addition to delivering medication, health assistants will help monitor patients’ blood pressure and ensure that they take their medication as prescribed. “I no longer have to wait in long queues at the clinic. Before, I’d have to go to the clinic every two weeks to do tests and be examined. I have applied to be a beneficiary of the new programme where, once a month, I get checked for my blood pressure by nurses at the clinic and once at home, and my medication is delivered to my doorstep,” says 78-year-old Disebo Melato. Another beneficiary, 67-year-old Alina Ramothello of Botshabelo-L
“Wheelchair breaker! Fatty boom boom!” These are the words hurled at 42-year-old Nomakhephu Nelane when she had to board the patient transport to transfer her from Pelonomi to Botshabelo Hospital in August 2023. She has kidney failure and it is difficult for her to move around. The driver was getting impatient with how slow she was going. And was screaming insults at her in full view of the other patients who were waiting in the vehicle. “He said I was big enough to break the wheelchair. He said there were no wheelchairs where I was going. I asked if I could take the one I was using and he vehemently refused,” she recalls. The other patients told him to stop what he was doing but he ignored them and did not listen to them. Nelane’s condition requires her to have a catheter bag which drains urine from her body. She
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Six years ago when Lerato Madumise, 28, of Rammulotsi in the remote Free State town of Viljoenskroon found out she was expecting her first child she was happy. She was excited about giving birth to a healthy boy, and everything he would grow up to be. Madumise’s hopes were dashed when her son was born with a rare condition called anophthalmia. This is a rare developmental disorder that results in babies being born with no eyes. Madumise’s son has the condition in both eyes and was born blind. His father left the family soon after he was born. The boy was also diagnosed with autism. Four years later she gave birth to a baby girl. The baby was also blind, and diagnosed with bilateral microphthalmia, a condition where babies are born with small eyes. “I learnt that the cause for both of them being blind is a rare genetic disorder
Scared, in pain and out of options, Kebuile Morapedi took to social media in August. “I need help. I’ve lodged a complaint at the clinic, but still nothing. I have two children who are three-years-old and I’m still young. I don’t have money for a lawyer.” Along with her desperate plea were photographs showing her right arm in various stages of infection. (Health-e has chosen not to show these images due to the graphic nature.) In December 2022, Morapedi from Thaba Nchu in the Free State received the Depo-Provera contraceptive injection. This is routine, the 27-year-old has been getting this injection every four months for the past three years. “The injection was the same as usual, the nurse was wearing gloves, and the injection was not (previously) used.” But this time things didn’t go according to plan. “My arm and entire hand were swollen within four hours of the injection.
Police and community members say the growing cases of gender-based violence (GBV) in the Selosesha cluster in Botshabelo east of Bloemfontein is likely the result of substance abuse and high unemployment rates. Speaking at a community dialogue in August police spokesperson and visible policing office delegate Lefu Masiza says more cases are being reported at the Botshabelo police station than other parts of the cluster. “We are getting high cases of GBV in Botshabelo than other parts of our cluster. Botshabelo is the biggest [station] in the cluster. We are working well with Setshabelo Safety House to provide shelter for those who find themselves abused. We are becoming a station that only deals with this scourge and we are appealing to our people to help us,” he says. The dialogue was hosted by the Centre for Morals and Values, an organisation that helps the community with social ills challenges such
The community of Section L in Botshabelo in the Free State closed down their local clinic on Wednesday in protest of a staff shortage at the facility. They locked the doors to Potlako Motlohi clinic with workers inside and camped outside waiting for the health department officials to address them. Community members say it takes too long for them to get assistance at the clinic. They cite a high volume of patients and a shortage of health workers as the main reasons. Long waiting times According to 41-year-old Sello Moketa who led the community in protest, normal waiting hours are over three hours. “It is not right that I can come here sick and be waiting for more than three hours before I can be helped. This should end and the government should employ more people,” he says. Moketa says two nurses were helping over 200 people per day with
Residents of Tumahole in Parys have shut down local clinics and schools in protest of the ongoing water crisis plaguing the Free State town. But the shutdown, which started on Monday, has left the community divided. The mass protest is about the lack of drinkable water in the area. Locals like Karabo Rathaba who support the shutdown believe that this will make authorities heed their calls faster. “The municipality has been undermining us for a long time and we are taking back our power. You cannot dictate how many times we need to have clean water and provide limited tankers that take time to deliver water,” she says. Residents supporting the shutdown demand that the MEC for cooperative governance and traditional affairs (Cogta) come and address the problem. “We are only fighting to get water nothing else,” says George Sampson a community leader from the Ghana section. “There will be no