Rural patients needing specialist care often spend the night at WF Knobel Hospital, from where they are are transported to Mankweng and Polokwane Provincial Hospitals.
Residents in these informal settlements rely on nearby streams or distant townships for water, sometimes paying for access or resorting to illegal connections.
The free flowing wastewater make it difficult to even walk down the street. In some areas, the roads are so damaged that cars won’t drive there.
The fire which broke out at Phuthuloha hospital is the second fire at a Free State hospital in two in weeks.
Manapo hospital in the Free State is facing long-standing water shortages and frequent power cuts. Patients must bring their own water, and operations have been disrupted.
This is the second patient death reported in the province in the last week.
A nurse tells Health-e News that stating that the official responsible for refuelling the generator was absent during the outage and has since been suspended.
The fire at National Hospital was quickly extinguished, but it left severe damage to the facility.
A doctor at Manapo Hospital in Phuthaditjhaba, Free State, was shot and wounded during a robbery in the doctors' living quarters.
Communities are calling for the government to prioritise primary healthcare services and ensure that doctors are available in clinics.
Many fear that the NHI will lead to a mass exodus of healthcare workers.
Clinics in Moretele in the North West province are facing a chronic shortage of essential medicines.
The Free State is experiencing a rise in flu cases, prompting officials to urge vaccination. But some patients find it difficult to get flu vaccines at local clinics.
Woman says despite being promised millions of rands in compensation for injuries sustained during surgery, she has yet to receive payment.
Despite promises from officials, including recent assurances from the water and sanitation minister, clean water remains elusive in Hammanskraal.
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