Departments: OPD

Our Vision: "To save patients' lives and prevent complications"


The Outpatients Department (OPD)offers a 24hr emergency service and routine non-emergency services from 7am to 4pm. Referrals from local GPs and residential clinics are also seen in OPD.



All patients are initially assessed and triaged by professional nurses. The majority are then referred on to see the doctor or dentist.

 

There are a number of conditions seen frequently in OPD (listed below). Most frequent are bilharzia, worms, septic sores, chest, ear and throat infections, STIs (sexually transmitted infections) and TB. Some occur because of the area people live in (e.g. bilharzia) and because this is a rural area, the cost and time involved in getting to a hospital (e.g. septic sores) and others because of the society (STIs).

The role of the OPD Nurse:

  • General observations (temperature, weight, blood pressure)and triage
  • IM injections
  • Dressing wounds
  • Removing sutures
  • Taking blood
  • Putting up IV lines
  • Urinary catheters
  • Collecting samples
  • Co-ordinating patient referrals

Professional nurses ideally have done Primary Health Care (PHC) training. They perform the majority of the Pap smears, dispense medication to the patients they have seen. Trainee nurses and other staff are instrumental in acting as translators for doctors unable to speak Zulu.


The role of the doctor in OPD:

  • Suturing
  • Inserting chest drains
  • I&D's
  • Removal of foreign bodies
  • POPs and manipulations
  • Biopsies (e.g. lymph nodes)
  • Pleural biopsies
  • Drainage of pleural fluid

 

The OPD offers many more services. The dentistry department is located in the OPD building and is open from 7:30am to 4:30pm. Many clinics are run from OPD--an eye clinic (run by an ophthalmic trained nurse) occurs every 2 weeks, well baby clinic , family planning, MJD and orthopaedic and antenatal clinics occur weekly.

There are x-ray facilities from 8am to 5pm and are also available for call-out in case of emergencies.

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Last Updated July 2010. The Webmaster