The National Health Insurance Act awaits a Concourt ruling on two cases, leaving official health reform in limbo. But it doesnt mean the system isnt being reworked. People-centred healthcare is alive at centres as diverse as Nqileni Clinic on the Wild Coast, and busy Groote Schuur Hospital in Cape Town.
Their successes notably Groote Schuurs palliative care unit can be attributed to partnerships with the community, and private institutions and team work among government health facilities.
At Nqileni, community healthcare workers run like a well-oiled machine. They go from home to home to do health checks, deliver chronic medication, and support mothers and children. The programme has been running for 20 years refining a model of care that works.
In North West Province, paraplegics are becoming professional basketball players, nurtured at Gelukspan District Hospital, which has a unique rehabilitation unit. Here communities are trained to take care of their disabled family members and have embraced wheelchair basketball, despite substandard equipment and borrowed facilities.
The lesson we learned is that when communities lead, and partners support, healthcare becomes accessible and effective.
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