Progress of construction of Emergency Centre for Helderberg Hospital

Helderberg Hospital's Emergency Centre is  undergoing a R40 million upgrade, in order to meet increased demand and provide better services and improved patient-centred care.

It is currently in the final design phase and is due to be completed in March 2020.

The hospital has been experiencing continued service pressure as a direct result of trauma cases flooding the Emergency Centre over weekends. The upgrade is necessary in order to better capacitate the hospital to deal with the increase in service demand and render a quality service to patients.

It will also upgrade its linen bank, central sterile services department, stores area, create a file archive, and repair priority areas in the hospitals due rising damp. By improving  the current state of buildings, this project will improve working conditions for staff and ultimately improve outcomes for patient care.

Western Cape Government Health has a number of facilities around the Helderberg and Strand area that assist to ease the pressure from Helderberg Hospital. These facilities are Nomzamo, Macassar, Gustrouw and Strand Community Day Centres. Patients with non-life-threatening conditions are urged to access healthcare at these facilities instead of Helderberg Hospital’s EC:
 

Nomzamo Community Day Centre
Nomzamo Community Day Centre (CDC) services the Lwandle area and provides much needed health services to the communities of this area. This facility also helps to ease the pressure at the Helderberg Hospital for the cases which can be seen at this level. It offers a holistic package of primary health care service, which includes treatment of chronic and acute conditions, an Infectious Disease Unit, consulting and counselling spaces, education, training and physical therapy sessions, a Women and Child Health Unit, and a pharmacy.

Macassar Community Day Centre
Macassar CDC is situated less than 15 kilometers drive from Helderberg Hospital. It operates in the Helderberg health district and provides 24-hour MOU services.

Services include a birthing unit, reproductive health, child health, wound care, chronic disease club, x-Rays, physiotherapy, etc.

Gustrouw Community Day Centre
Gustrouw CDC is a comprehensive primary health care facility serving a growing family orientated community. It is 10 kilometers drive from Helderberg Hospital and has a good proportion of elderly patients who attend for chronic and rehabilitative care. Mental health is also a significant factor to the community with substance-induced psychosis and depression featuring prominently. Antenatal care and a well-baby clinic reflect the ever-growing population of the fertile age group in the area.

Strand Community Day Centre
Strand CDC is in the central business area of the Strand and is only 6 kilometers away from Helderberg Hospital. It is well known for their curative services and chronic services. Strand CDC offers an off-site dispensing service to the community. This service reduces the patient waiting times at the pharmacy and prevents stable chronic patients from long waiting times at the facility for chronic medication. SMS’s are sent to the patients informing them when to pick up their medicine parcels and they able to choose time slots that are convenient to them. Services offered at the facility include chronic care, mental health Services, dental services, ARV services, etc.

What causes pressure on a hospital:
Trauma cases are often caused by interpersonal violence, regularly as a result of substance abuse. Patients with non-life-threatening conditions who go to the EC instead of their nearest clinic, are also causing a significant increase in service pressure on the hospital’s emergency services, resulting in long waiting times. Emergency care facilities are specifically equipped to render emergency care to patients with urgent, life-threatening conditions and injuries. Patients with non-life-threatening, minor conditions (triaged green and yellow) are urged to visit their nearest clinic, as outlined above, as their first point of entry to the health system. This will reduce service pressure and waiting times at the emergency centres and ensure that patients receive the appropriate level of care.

Issued by the Directorate: Communications for Western Cape Government Health.