Heavy rains in the past days have not only claimed the lives of many but destroyed infrastructure as well, leaving thousands homeless.
EThekwini, Ugu and Umkhanyakude Districts were severely affected by the floods.
The Democratic Nursing Organisation of South Africa (DENOSA), in KZN, has called on the government to prioritize health facilities affected by the floods as access to these by both patients and healthcare workers has become nearly impossible.
“Hundreds more are in desperate need of emergency care which they are not able to access due to the damage to the roads caused by the floods. Equally, many nurses are not able to report for work or go home,” said DENOSA.
The nurses’ main concern is patients on chronic medication who could be in desperate need of their medication but won’t be able to access healthcare facilities.
“Many Community Healthcare Centres (CHCs), those that are easily accessible, experienced high volumes of trauma cases and they experienced challenges with transferring patients due to unavailability of ambulances.”
According to DENOSA, the floods have resulted in the following challenges: Night nurses could not be relieved by the day shift staff due to damaged roads. Some facilities are assisted by nurses who stay in nurses’ homes. Some healthcare staff are not able to go to work due to no water and electricity. Some facilities have no water, due to water-shedding that is taking place. At Manguzi Hospital in Mkhanyakude District, park-home for managers is flooded with water (but there was no reported injuries to staff).
Follow @SundayWorldZA on Twitter @sundayworldza on Instagram, or like our Facebook Page, Sunday World, by clicking here for the latest breaking news in South Africa. To Subscribe to Sunday World, click here.
