POLOKWANE – This was confirmed by the Health Department after a woman from Musina recently gave birth at the gate of a clinic after being denied entry as the time fell outside of the clinic’s operational hours.
The department has since suspended the nurse who was on duty.
Also read: Limpopo nurse suspended after woman gives birth outside clinic
Health spokesperson Neil Shikwambana told Polokwane Observer that some clinics are open 24 hours but some institutions close after hours. These, however, still have nursing staff on the premises who can be called whenever an emergency arises.
“The idea of having clinics operating overnight is to cater for emergency cases only, but we call on people not to abuse the 24-hour services by consulting for things which can be treated during the day. In cases of on call duty, it is security guards who call the nurses whenever there are emergencies. They just need to let security know it is an emergency.”
Shikwambana said an emergency is any life-threatening case, and women who go into labour.
