Okakarara rural clinics have no ambulances

CLINICS within the Okakarara constituency operate without ambulances, which has resulted in near-death experiences.

The Namibian visited clinics at Coblenz, Okamatatapi, Okarondu and Okondjatu about a week ago and found that some have dysfunctional or understaffed mortuaries.

Spokesperson of the Coblenz clinic Lazarus Kerii said the clinic uses a bakkie to transport patients in cases of emergency.

He said patients have to sleep on worn-out mattresses in the bakkie when being transported and sometimes they are transported to Okakarara without a nurse.

He said the bakkie they use as substitute is very small and forces the nurse to sit in front, which is very dangerous for when a patient needs immediate assistance.

“We sometimes carry a gas bottle for provision of oxygen but because we have to drive on gravel road; the bottle, which is extremely heavy, is tossed about in the car and can land on the patient,” said Kerii.

He said there are only two permanent nurses on duty but at times when one falls ill, it is hard to get replacement nurses to step in.

“We get nurses from Okakarara, who can replace the two, but their arrival is often delayed,” said Kerii.

The newly refurbished Coblenz clinic has two nurses as permanent staff, who stay in houses built on the clinic premises. The clinic has a dilapidated mortuary, which can only accommodate up to three bodies at at time.

Kerii said, “The mortuary cannot even cool a bottle of cooldrink. In case of an emergency, we keep bodies in there but only for a day and not for more then a week.”

One of the patients said doctors hardly visit the clinic. According to him, the doctors used to come every second week, but currently, only every three months.

Samuel Hanavi, a community member, said the ambulance services is unreliable, “people had almost died just waiting for the ambulance to arrive”.

The 57-year-old Batsheba Kenaumue, who stays with her daughter and four grandchildren in a rundown shack that leaks when it rains, said her two-year-old grandchild dislocated her arm while playing the previous day and they were waiting for an ambulance to come from Okakarara since.

The Okamatapati clinic, an ancient building constructed before independence, is falling apart, with old benches in the waiting area. While The Namibian was there, one of the benches gave in to the weight of patients waiting to be attended to by the only nurse on duty, and the patients found themselves on the floor. The clinic too does not have its own ambulance, but it uses a bakkie to transport patients to Okakarara. One of the staff members, who declined to be named, said the bakkie is not equipped for saving a life like an ambulance. It only has one worn-out mattress for patients.

A tired nurse complained of a broken geyser which is vital for when treating pregnant women.

Paint from the clinic’s walls is peeling off, while the roofs leak when it rains, leaving dark brown marks on the walls. With her head on the desk, the nurse waits for patients to come for treatment and points out that the pharmacy is always re-stocked and they have not experienced any lack of medicine.

She says at times she cannot travel as there might be an emergency in her absence.

The clinic’s staff consist of a nurse, cleaners, security guards and a community counsellor.

They complained of the doctor who should be visiting every second week but hardly comes.

“People travel from far-away villages to come see the doctor but when they arrive here, the doctor does not show up. At first, he used to come every second week, then once a month and now, it has been three months ,” said a patient.

Similarly, the Okarondu clinic has one permanent nurse who is always on duty, although she refrained from commenting. Patients who were seated outside, said she has been the only staff on duty for over three years. One of the ladies who shares the house with the nurse, said the nurse never goes on leave fearing that someone might need assistance.

The clinic was built in 2007 and has been a source of relieve to the elderly in the area who no longer have to spend much to seek medical assistance faraway.

According to staff, the clinic remains fully stocked with medicines. It does not have a mortuary since it is close to Okakarara where there is one.

About 150 kilometres east of Okakarara, the staff members at the Okondjatu clinic treat patients in a rundown building, with cracks decorating the walls, while the only nurse on duty, who refrained from making any comments, yells for the next patient to come in.

The agitated nurse says she is working through lunch break as she hastily walks into the treatment room to attend to the patient.

Outside, more patients are braving the heat while waiting for their turn. Some point to the incomplete building outside, saying it was meant to have been completed as the new clinic to replace the old building.

It was also allegedly found that the funds diminished as a result and now the incomplete construction has been filled with an overgrowth of weeds and grass.

The Namibian earlier this year reported that the Ministry of Health would renovate eight clinics, six hospital components, and build fourteen clinics and four health centres, including the Okakarara Hospital. It was also reported that the construction of the Okondjatu clinic was second-rate and that the contract will be re-advertised.

Other community members complained of the unfriendliness of the nurse on duty and the lack of visits by the doctor.

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