Born in a Taxi
16 March 2009
In its Monday 16 March 2009 edition, Sowetan carried
a story of a mother who gave birth in a taxi after having
been turned back from a clinic, because “ she was not due
to give birth” according to nurses working at the clinic.
The Department of health views this incident in a very serious
light. If there anything it does, is to undermine the confidence
of our people in the public health system. Many of our people present
to our health facilities because they have no other choice; they entirely
depend on us to provide this basic human right service-health.
In the past 15 years, government has built so many clinics and hospitals
and is continuing to do so, primarily guided by three principles; access,
equity and affordability. More and more of our people now travel less than
seven kilometers to access a health facility.
But all this unparalleled progress cannot find meaning for as long as our
employees continue to treat our people in manner that undermines their human
dignity. We need a collective effort to inculcate the understanding amongst
civil servants, to understand the pole position they occupy in society, to
understand the justified expectations that our people have on us that first
and foremost we are here to serve.
We need to understand that we do no favor to our people, it is their constitutional
right to access these essential services, and it is our constitutional obligation to
provide these services with greatest humility, respect and honour. Until this dawn in
our minds as public servants we will continue to witness unfortunate incidents like the
one reported in Sowetan.
We have as a matter of urgency launched an investigation, and will take the harshest actions
if anyone is found to have acted negligently, these will include reporting such professionals
to their regulating professional body for further review.
Despite this unfortunate incident, we want to re-assure our people that there are equally
many committed health professionals, who despite sometimes working under extreme conditions,
continue to serve our people with pride, and it is through their actions that we would always
make a call to all people to have confidence in our health system.
Issued by: Department OF Health; Mpumalanga
Provincial Government.
For more information
Contact
Mpho Gabashane
082 802 4937
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