Godongwana makes commitment to front-line services

FINANCE Minister Enoch Godongwana has reaffirmed the government's commitment to restoring critical front-line health services and investing in infrastructure to improve access to basic healthcare, following a powerful plea from a University of Cape Town medical student.

- MANDILAKHE TSHWETE

Delivering his budget yesterday, Godongwana revealed that earlier this month, he received a letter from Sarah Stein, a medical student at UCT, detailing the dire conditions healthcare workers face in public hospitals.

Her first-hand account moved the minister and helped reinforce the urgency behind the increased health budget allocations.

“Working in a public hospital with way too few resources punches you in the gut every day. It’s not just the trauma of seeing your patient die, it’s having no gloves in a delivery room; no alcohol swabs to clean wounds; and knowing that nurses stop at the shop on their way to work to buy their own gloves and masks because the clinic has run out.