Two years after the Limpopo Department of Health handed over 35 new state-of-the-art ambulances to Siloam Hospital, patients in the Vhembe District continue to experience delays that put their lives at risk.
On Monday, 21 July, a pregnant woman from Ha Maelula gave birth on the side of the road after waiting more than three hours for an ambulance. According to her family, they called for help at 16:00 and were told it would arrive by 19:00. When there was still no ambulance by 19:30, they rushed her to the hospital in a taxi.
“She delivered on the side of the road before we could reach Siloam Hospital,” her brother tells Health-e News. “The ambulance only arrived after 20:00. We feel let down.”
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This isn’t an isolated case. Activists say delays in emergency response are still common despite the fanfare surrounding the handover of ambulances in 2023.
Phathutshedzo Richard Mukhaninga from the Vhembe Concerned Group says:
“The former MEC of Health, now Premier, Dr Phophi Ramathuba, came to Siloam Hospital with a lot of ambulances and said the era of saying ‘there are no ambulances’ had come to an end. We were very excited for this new era, but it seems as if nothing has changed. Our people are still dying while waiting for ambulances.
Not long ago, a woman gave birth at the Siloam taxi rank, right at the doorstep of the hospital. She had to use a bus because the ambulance was late. Now it’s this one. What if the baby had died?
Health MEC Dr Phophi Ramathuba had promised that the 35 ambulances delivered to Siloam in September 2023 would bring an end to delays. “These are not just any ambulances, they’re like walk-in hospitals,” she said at the time, adding that more would be delivered to other districts in the following months.
At that launch, Vhembe EMS manager Solomon Mohale admitted that the service was under strain. “We were serving 136 villages with just four ambulances. Gravel roads make it even harder,” he said.
Limpopo Department of Health spokesperson Neil Shikwambana says the matter is under investigation, but denies that there is a shortage of ambulances.
“That issue is still subject to investigation by us as to the circumstances around the incident. Once we are done with investigating, we should be able to tell exactly what happened on our part.” – Health-e News
