Call to ease pressure on hospital emergency centre

Victoria Hospital’s emergency centre is being swamped by non-emergency cases, says the hospital’s head of emergency medicine, Dr Phillip Cloete.

Those going through the emergency centre instead of their local clinic for routine health complaints can face very long waiting times because priority is given to those needing urgent medical attention, he says.

The emergency centre sees at least 80 cases a day - including heart attacks, strokes, complications of chronic illnesses and physical injuries - with that number usually rising sharply at weekends, he says.

“The purpose of the emergency centre is to provide life-saving care to patients that require urgent medical care. To ensure patients with the most urgent conditions are seen first, medical care is provided according to the severity of the condition. All patients are assessed individually and then treated.”

Victoria Hospital triages patients as red, orange, yellow or green with red representing the most urgent cases. So yellow and green patients with non-life-threatening conditions will have a much longer wait if visiting the emergency centre, especially when it is very busy.

According to the provincial health department, the hospital’s emergency centre has seen an average of 2505 patients a month in the past six months, and 718 of those per month, or 29%, were triaged green and could have been seen at their local clinic or day hospital for medical conditions such as the flu, common viral illnesses, minor upper and lower respiratory illnesses, chronic pain and urinary tract infections along with requests for pregnancy tests, X-rays and blood tests for insurance.

The department advises those with minor ailments to visit their doctor or contact their nearest primary health-care facility to be seen at no cost. There are also mental-health nurses at these facilities.

• Primary health-care facilities

Lady Michaelis clinic – 021 797 8171

Hout Bay clinic - 021 810 8040

Grassy Park clinic - 021 705 3814

Retreat day hospital (24-hour facility) – 021 713 9741

Lotus River clinic – 021 703 3131

Du Noon day hospital (24-hour facility) – 021 200 4500

Vanguard day hospital (24-hour facility) – 021 695 8244

Kensington clinic – 021 593 1155

Maitland clinic – 021 510 6473

District Six clinic - 021 8335400

Green Point clinic – 021 421 0288