Walking down the crisp, clean and colourful clinical halls of the upgraded Paediatric Outpatient Department (POPD) at Victoria Hospital in Wynberg you see those responsible for its construction beaming with joy.
The upgrade will greatly benefit the vulnerable communities within Cape Town and the greater Western Cape as this department in the historic place of medical care in existence since 1889 serves many communities beyond its surrounds.
As staff and management attested to at the new outpatient department’s grand opening on Thursday 24 August, Victoria Hospital has an excessively busy POPD with five to six clinics running weekly.
The bustling POPD sees over 7 000 patients annually and the previous layout of the POPD needed increased space and improved ventilation.
As the head of Paediatrics at the hospital Dr Gill Schermbrucker said:
“This very generous investment into bricks and mortar to build a child- and family-friendly space at Victoria Hospital will enable a long-held service vision to become a reality and we trust that this impact will be felt in our communities for generations to come.
“Practically, waiting times for paediatric patients will be reduced, and the new area will allow more multidisciplinary and holistic care to take place in one space.”
A video presentation illustrated the close-knit confines, cluttered hallways and bustling of active staff, parents and toddlers clustered together in the quest of getting quality medical care in the old existing ward.
Schermbrucker then spoke about the structural challenges faced by the construction team due to the nature of the 134-year-old existing infrastructure.
She additionally wished for a small playground and a newly planted tree outside the ward which seemed like an impossibility, but Schermbrucker expressed great appreciation for the construction team who made it a reality.
As to the technical difference of an “outpatient care unit”, Schermbrucker explained that their POPD is a specialised outpatient ward, consulting patients with treatments that get taken home.
This means Victoria Hospital’s new POPD is not open to walk-in patients but is based on a referral system run by the Western Cape Department of Health.
“It’s governed by a very strict referral criteria because we provide specialised service for the entire Southern Subdistrict. So, it means it’s a huge area with patients to be accommodated on their turn, with only two paediatricians.”
At the event, the CEO of the Victoria Hospital, Jonathan Vaughan, and his counterpart from the Red Cross Children’s Hospital Trust Chantel Cooper, welcomed and expressed heartfelt gratitude.
“We uphold a vision of high-quality responsive care by staff and as CEO, it’s part of the job to live out what that means. That vision also links to the building in which that care takes place and we should always work to add value,” Vaughan said.
“Now, there is more space where patients and their parents from all different communities can come to find the basics of childcare and play in a safe environment, along with our partners from NGOs and other organisations,” continued Vaughan.
He said this new paediatric department also symbolises the Red Cross system Victoria Hospital works in, “and equally, we cannot survive without Red Cross”.
On her turn, Cooper paid homage to the vision shared by the Red Cross and the hospital which is: To care for children in the context of family, to improve communities through interaction with collaborators and partners for the wellbeing of children.
“I saw [the POPD] as a bigger part of the trust’s vision[…] and it’s a fantastic model that should actually be replicated across the province.
“This is not just about the building but the energy one feels while walking down these corridors in which the care is tacit. Not just today… but for generations to come,” Cooper concluded.
Special appearances that made the grand opening even more heartwarming was the attendance by two beautiful and successful young women, Cinderella Mavundla (22) and Jennifer Obiajunwa (22).
The pair used to receive care at the old ward when they were small.
Both of them were filled with glee seeing the brand new facilities that would offer ill children a safe, open environment where they now even have a small playground.
