NEWS - NAMIBIA
| 2013-07-26No privacy at Usakos clinic
Adam Hartman
ALMOST six months after the Presidential inquiry into the health care in Namibia expressed concerns about a ‘clinic’ housed in a community hall at Usakos, health workers continue operating from the premises.
According to the presidential inquiry report, people were uncomfortable with the arrangement because everyone could hear what their problem was. There is no privacy.
Even when The Namibian sought comment at the clinic last week, whispers were amplified to be loud enough for everyone in the large room to hear.
“This is where we have been put. Of course it is not as comfortable for the patients, but it’s not comfortable for us too. We are just waiting for the new clinic to open. In the meantime we have to do our work from here,” a nurse said.
The presidential inquiry team visited the ‘clinic’ almost a year ago and submitted its report to President Hifikepunye Pohamba in January this year.
Health workers and community members see light at the end of the tunnel, though. By the end of this year a new clinic will replace the structurally unsound facility in Usakos’ Hakhaseb location. The previous clinic was ‘written off’ because of “inexplicable” structural defects that made the building unsafe for use as a clinic.
The Usakos State Hospital in the town is also being upgraded – even though the building, which was inaugurated in 1990, is said to have been well maintained and managed compared to other similiar hospitals in Namibia.
The Hakhaseb clinic was built in 2002 at a cost of about N$1,2 million. It was officially opened then to serve the community which is about five kilometres from the Usakos State Hospital.
The clinic served as a basic health care facility where basic ailments could be treated and basic medication dispensed. More serious ailments were referred to the State hospital.
Less than 10 years later though, in 2011, large cracks started appearing in the building.
“We went to inspect it and immediately decided that it was unsafe for people; so we wrote it off and made plans for a new clinic,” community leader Ben Uiseb said.
The cracks were described as “unexplainable”. Geophysical tests were done in the area because of speculation that the building may have been built on a geological fault. This, however, was found not to be the case.
Those in the building business however alluded to the fact that the foundations of the ‘old’ clinic were not laid properly and that the earth on which it was built was not properly prepared as is the case with the new clinic – just across the road from the old facility.
A temporary clinic had to be opened until the new clinic, which will include staff accommodation, is completed – probably before the end of the year. Since the old clinic was closed in 2011, residents were forced to go to the temporary one situated at the back of a local kindergarten and comprising of several cubicles constructed of makeshift dividers.
The new clinic and staff accommodation is being built at a cost of N$9,9 million and is described by locals as a “hotel” compared to the abandoned clinic. It will also have doctors’ consulting rooms, which will be more comfortable for patients to discuss their health problems without “the whole town having to know” about them.
“It will be a much better structure because the land has been properly filled and compacted, and the foundations are deep,” a builder at the site said.
The first phase of upgrading the Usakos State Hospital is underway and includes doubling the size of the casualty ward and the introduction of an X-ray department. Costs for the first phase are estimated at about N$4,5 million.
The Namibian understands that the reason for the upgrade is to meet the need of emergency treatment in the area – especially because of the high rate of motor vehicle accidents on the B2 road between Karibib and Arandis.
Attempts to get comment from the Ministry of Health and Social Services ended with the ministry’s public relations officer - the only person officially mandated to find answers to media inquiries. A short list of questions were sent on Monday. By the time of going to press yesterday, no answers or comments had been received - even after several attempted reminders.
According to the presidential inquiry report, people were uncomfortable with the arrangement because everyone could hear what their problem was. There is no privacy.
Even when The Namibian sought comment at the clinic last week, whispers were amplified to be loud enough for everyone in the large room to hear.
“This is where we have been put. Of course it is not as comfortable for the patients, but it’s not comfortable for us too. We are just waiting for the new clinic to open. In the meantime we have to do our work from here,” a nurse said.
The presidential inquiry team visited the ‘clinic’ almost a year ago and submitted its report to President Hifikepunye Pohamba in January this year.
Health workers and community members see light at the end of the tunnel, though. By the end of this year a new clinic will replace the structurally unsound facility in Usakos’ Hakhaseb location. The previous clinic was ‘written off’ because of “inexplicable” structural defects that made the building unsafe for use as a clinic.
The Usakos State Hospital in the town is also being upgraded – even though the building, which was inaugurated in 1990, is said to have been well maintained and managed compared to other similiar hospitals in Namibia.
The Hakhaseb clinic was built in 2002 at a cost of about N$1,2 million. It was officially opened then to serve the community which is about five kilometres from the Usakos State Hospital.
The clinic served as a basic health care facility where basic ailments could be treated and basic medication dispensed. More serious ailments were referred to the State hospital.
Less than 10 years later though, in 2011, large cracks started appearing in the building.
“We went to inspect it and immediately decided that it was unsafe for people; so we wrote it off and made plans for a new clinic,” community leader Ben Uiseb said.
The cracks were described as “unexplainable”. Geophysical tests were done in the area because of speculation that the building may have been built on a geological fault. This, however, was found not to be the case.
Those in the building business however alluded to the fact that the foundations of the ‘old’ clinic were not laid properly and that the earth on which it was built was not properly prepared as is the case with the new clinic – just across the road from the old facility.
A temporary clinic had to be opened until the new clinic, which will include staff accommodation, is completed – probably before the end of the year. Since the old clinic was closed in 2011, residents were forced to go to the temporary one situated at the back of a local kindergarten and comprising of several cubicles constructed of makeshift dividers.
The new clinic and staff accommodation is being built at a cost of N$9,9 million and is described by locals as a “hotel” compared to the abandoned clinic. It will also have doctors’ consulting rooms, which will be more comfortable for patients to discuss their health problems without “the whole town having to know” about them.
“It will be a much better structure because the land has been properly filled and compacted, and the foundations are deep,” a builder at the site said.
The first phase of upgrading the Usakos State Hospital is underway and includes doubling the size of the casualty ward and the introduction of an X-ray department. Costs for the first phase are estimated at about N$4,5 million.
The Namibian understands that the reason for the upgrade is to meet the need of emergency treatment in the area – especially because of the high rate of motor vehicle accidents on the B2 road between Karibib and Arandis.
Attempts to get comment from the Ministry of Health and Social Services ended with the ministry’s public relations officer - the only person officially mandated to find answers to media inquiries. A short list of questions were sent on Monday. By the time of going to press yesterday, no answers or comments had been received - even after several attempted reminders.
