Africa-Press – Namibia. Long queues, overcrowding and a lack of privacy greeted members of the National Council’s Standing Committee on Health, Social Welfare and Labour Affairs during their oversight visit to health facilities in Swakopmund and Walvis Bay on Tuesday.
These challenges were observed at the Tamariskia Clinic, which is currently servicing all residents of Swakopmund after parts of the Mondesa Clinic burnt earlier this year.
The standing committee is currently conducting oversight visits to health facilities across the Erongo region.
Shortly after their two-day visit, vice chairperson of the committee, Anna Muteka, said conditions at the Tamariskia Clinic are unacceptable and require urgent intervention.
“Quite frankly, the overall condition of health facilities in Erongo could be better. The biggest concerns are the lack of space, congestion, long queues, overcrowding, and a lack of privacy. Patients need to be assessed by nurses and doctors in private, and that’s not always the case,” she said shortly after concluding their visit.
Muteka now says the ministry and relevant stakeholders need to explore alternative venues for service delivery to ease the current burden on facilities such as Tamariskia.
Speaking on behalf of the committee, she recommended that the relevant agencies create additional spaces to relieve the congestion currently experienced at the clinics.
“We are quite sure that government owns properties that could be used to improvise, and we are encouraging them to explore this possibility, provided the environment is conducive.”
She also raised concern about the pharmacy set-up at the facility, saying it is inadequate.
“The windows through which pharmacies dispense medication are too small. You’ll see long queues simply because there is only one small window serving thousands of people.
We have a lot of work to do,” Muteka said.
Muteka also indicated that they observed visible improvements at the hospital compared to the committee’s last visit in 2023.
“During our previous visit, the ceilings had completely fallen in.
But during our recent visit, we saw they had been repaired. While a few touch-ups are still needed, we believe they are doing their best with the available resources, especially in terms of maintenance,” she explained.
Meanwhile, Alini Nakatana, a registered nurse at Tamariskia Clinic, echoed the committee’s concerns. She said the facility’s size does not meet the demand.
“Patients are standing in the waiting area because there aren’t enough benches.
We only have three screening rooms, and even those are too small. The pharmacy is also cramped. They sometimes request to use one of our screening rooms just to dispense medication,” she explained.
She said although the clinic is well-ventilated, the lack of space remains a daily challenge. Renovations planned for the clinic.
The Erongo regional health director confirmed that plans are underway to renovate the Mondesa Clinic, which is expected to ease the load on Tamariskia once completed.
“Renovating Mondesa will help stabilise the situation at Tamariskia,” the director said. “We expect the work to begin in about three months.”
The current oversight visit, which runs from 4 to 18 August, is aimed at assessing the progress made on issues previously raised by the committee.
These include the shortage of medication, limited clinical supplies, understaffing, and the lack of ambulances at clinics and hospitals.
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