The KwaZulu-Natal MEC for Health, Dr Sibongiseni Dhlomo, will officially open a new nurses home and a gateway clinic at Nkandla to ensure that nurses do not leave because of lack of accommodation and to reduce long queues.
Nkandla has a population of 127 451 (Statistics SA 2007), which is a decrease from 133 602 in 2001 census. The households are calculated at 22 387. The gender numbers indicate that 57% of the population is females and 43% being males.
Nkandla Hospital was opened in 1939 by Bishop Spreiter of the Roman Catholic Church of Zululand, stationed at Inkamana. In 1950 it was registered with the Welfare Board and the Hospital Advisory Board. In 1961 the Provincial training school was closed and the hospital was approved as a training School for Auxiliary Nurses (Enrolled Nurses) by the South African Nursing Council (SANC) and since then 228 nurses pass per intake. These high numbers of staff nurse training resulted in a strike 1995 where nurses and students demanded accommodation.Following the strike and high disease burden in the district; the department decided to build a new nurses home at the cost of around 14 million.
“With no end in sight for the nursing shortage, the department has placed greater emphasis on retaining their current nursing staff by providing accommodation. The stresses of the job can be compounded by poor accommodation,” MEC Dhlomo says ahead of the official opening of the new nurses home at Nkandla.
On the same day the MEC will officially open a gateway Clinic in Nkandla at the cost of 8,5 million. The hospital has an outpatient headcount of 800 people per month.
“Primary Healthcare is a people-centred approach to health that makes prevention as important as cure,” MEC Dhlomo believes. “As part of this preventive approach, primary health care tackles the root causes of ill health, also in non-health sectors, thus offering an upstream attack on threats to health, an upstream way to improve health security.”
Journalists are invited to the event to be held as follows:
Date: 11 February 2011 (Friday)
Time: 09h00
Venue: Nkandla Hospital
Transport is available!
Please indicate attendance with:
Chris Maxon
Cell: 0834472869
