Discuss TWO ways in which the lack of basic services has a major negative impact on the health of the poor people in South Africa.
Answers
Answer:
Explanation:
Delivery of quality health care is a constitutional obligation in South Africa (Stuckler, Basu & Mckee 2011:165). Government has therefore introduced numerous developments and programmes to improve health care, efficiency, safety and quality of delivery and access for all users (Mogashoa & Pelser 2014:142), and there have been major changes in health policy and legislation to ensure compliance in delivering quality care (Moyakhe 2014:80). Despite a number of commendable goals having been set by government for improved quality of service delivery in healthcare settings, reports by media and communities in 2009 revealed that services in public health institutions were nonetheless failing to meet basic standards of care and patient expectations (National Department of Health 2012:4). This has caused the public to lose trust in the healthcare system (Zubane 2011:1). Koelble and Siddle (2014:1118) describe the healthcare system in South Africa as ruined and in serious need of repair.
Many of problems in the South African healthcare system can be traced back to the apartheid period (1948–1993) in which the healthcare system was highly fragmented, with discriminatory effect, between four different racial groups (black, mixed race, Indian and white) (Baker 2010:79). To worsen the situation, the apartheid government developed 10 Bantustans (the so-called ethnic homelands) into which Africans were unwillingly segregated, and each of which had their own departments of health with their professional bodies (Baker 2010:80). This led to deterioration in health system delivery because of lack of resources, and poor communities were especially affected (Chassin & Loeb 2013:462).
Huge efforts have been made to improve the quality of healthcare delivery in South Africa since 1994 elections, but several issues have been raised by the public regarding public institutions. Among the many, the following seven issues are discussed in this article: prolonged waiting time because of shortage of human resources, adverse events, poor hygiene and poor infection control measures, increased litigation because of avoidable errors, shortage of resources in medicine and equipment and poor record-keeping.
Prolonged waiting time because of shortage of human resources
A major weakness in sub-Saharan African health systems is inadequate human resources. Africa is said to have less than one health worker per 1000 population compared to 10 per 1000 in Europe (Fonn, Ray & Blaauw 2011:658). Barron and Padarath (2017:4) noted that health problems in South Africa are worsened by unequal distribution of health professionals between the private and public sectors, coupled with unequal distribution of public sector health professionals among the provinces. In a study conducted by Tana (2013:82), participants affirmed the insufficiency and inadequacy of health workers which they described as leading to physical and mental exhaustion, and in some cases to further deterioration of their medical condition.
Adverse events
Other incidents reported were patients who developed complications, and in some cases died, because they were turned away from the public healthcare facility or denied access to healthcare service. The Sunday Tribune (08 March 2015:2) reported on the family of a 35-year-old woman that blamed tertiary hospital staff in KwaZulu-Natal for her death after she was allegedly turned away from the hospital despite being gravely ill. Kama (2017:2) reported the case of a 1-year-old baby who died on his grandmother’s back after they were turned away from three different healthcare facilities in one of the townships in Cape Town. In another incident in the same township, a teenager gave birth on the pavement outside the gates of a health facility because she was not allowed access (Kama 2017:2)
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