Philadelphia Hospital in Dennilton, Limpopo, has received a stamp of approval from Public Service and Administration Deputy Minister Chana Pilane-Majake.
The Deputy Minister paid a surprise visit to the hospital, situated near Moutse in the Sekhukhune District, on Thursday, and expressed satisfaction at the quality of healthcare services at the facility.
The visit followed claims on social media that the health facility was in a poor state with mothers of infants admitted at the hospital being accommodated in a dilapidated ward with no beds.
“I am generally satisfied about the quality of healthcare services rendered with hospitals. What is important is also cleanliness, you can’t treat patients in a dirty environment. [In] all the wards...dental, eye, paediatric wards we found that the hospital is very clean.”
She said the visit was due to what was trending on social media about mothers of children who were hospitalised who were accommodated in an unacceptable room.
“…We have been to the room where the mothers were housed and an explanation has been given as to why they were accommodated in that room.
“The explanation is that there is no special place for mothers in hospitals in general because the hospitals are meant for patients, but what the hospital has undertaken to do is to do renovations in that room.”
However, she said, in general they found conditions at the hospital were not bad.
Pilane-Majake said the way the situation was portrayed on social media created an impression that conditions at the hospital were very bad.
“When I saw it on social media, I decided to come and see the situation, now that I have visited the health facility, I can proudly state that the reality is that the hospital is properly run...we have visited different areas of the hospital and we find that even though everything is not perfect, the hospital is being well managed.”
Ward 6 councillor, Raymond Ndlovu, said the surprise visit was a sign of a caring government.
“In my view, we need more unannounced visits so that our leaders at a national level can see the day to day challenges faced by the people and of course provide solution as a way of improving services.
“As residents, we are of the view that this hospital must be revamped as some of the buildings are dilapidating... Remember the hospital is catering for patients from Limpopo, part of Mpumalanga and Gauteng, so there is also a need to employ more health practitioners,” he said. – SAnews.gov.za
