The North West Department of Health and Social Development will next week release 40 brand-new Volkswagen (VW) and Mercedes Benz ambulances worth R17 million in it's effort to improve emergency medical service delivery. The ambulance will be distributed equitably and preference will be given to rural communities. The move was necessitated by the fact that most people in the rural areas don’t have adequate transportation to-and-from the hospitals in cases of emergency.
"The emergency vehicles are of quality and will assist improve our response time. This is a way of improving ordinary people's lives and enhancing service delivery.
"The shortage of emergency vehicles could hinder the transportation of patients such as pregnant women to hospitals and clinics, the seriously sick and those who sustained injuries in road accidents.
"I warn our EMRS drivers not to get tempted to abuse these vehicles by using them for personal matter out of work like it happened previously. We also previously had cases of negligent driving by our drivers and thus costing us more money to repair these vehicles. People must understand that, as a result of these unfortunate incidents sometimes vehicles stay is garages waiting for repair and thus reducing our response time to emergency calls," says MEC Rebecca Kasienyane.
"We will always be proactive to ensure that all people receive adequate service delivery but our people must also learn to look after their own resources" says MEC Kasienyane.
The department has procured over 120 ambulances in the past two years including the ones to be released.
Enquiries:
Tebogo Lekgethwane
Department Spokesperson
Cell: 082 929 9958
E-mail: tlekgethwane@nwpg.gov.za
