The KwaZulu-Natal Health Department says it has put in place measures to ensure that patients are not compromised following the devastating floods in the province.

It says despite the major damage that the floods have caused to the province’s health facilities, most hospitals are coping with the workload.

The head of the department Dr Sandile Tshabalala says damaged infrastructure is making it difficult for patients to collect their medication.

“We just are worried about the clients who are supposed to come to pick up their medication in our CCMDD points who do not have access and those who do not have access into some of our clinics. That’s where we are worried more but in our facilities, we think we are managing because even operations are happening. If needs be we move even staff from one place to another,” says Tshabalala.

Cost of damages to health facilities

KwaZulu-Natal Health MEC Nomagugu Simelane says they are trying to establish the cost of the damage the floods have caused to various health facilities.

At least 58 hospitals including clinics have been severely damaged. Simelane says a number of health facilities have been flooded after their roofs were blown off.

“In Umgungundlovu District the storm-affected facilities there, we are talking about Eastboom Clinic. The hospitals that are there even as you go inland in uThukela, some of our facilities have been affected. We are consolidating currently the list of which facilities are affected, to what extent the facilities have been damaged but we are very worried that of the 600 plus clinics that we have, majority of them have been affected by the storms and the hospitals close to half of them have been affected by the storms. If you quantify the amount that is going to be needed to rebuild that infrastructure, we think it is going to be huge,” says Simelane.

Source: SABC News