Cape Town - A patient's account of life inside the Cape Town International Convention Centre (CTICC) Covid-19 field hospital has gone viral.
The post, which was shared by Melly K. on Facebook, includes a video depicting frontline health workers singing to patients as they pass their beds at the CTICC temporary hospital.
The hospital, also known as the Hospital of Hope, started admitting its first Covid-19 patients on Monday, 8 June and has been operating as a four ward facility.
Premier Alan Winde previously said that the hospital is expected to be staffed by more than 900 people when all phases are operational.
The account shares that people admitted are allocated a bed number and a ward section and that "they really go out of the way" to make the patients feel comfortable.
“Another bed, number 766 just empties opposite me. Each of our beds are allocated a number and ward section. I’m glad for the open plan set up. The smells of the nappies float up quickly. Every second bed has a “dirt box”. Emptied regularly. There are tea groups. Cleaning groups. You are never alone. Security groups. If they think you lost, all they ask is for your bed number and take you back. I got lost just going to the toilets. You get clean bedding every morning.
“They change it for you. Clean pjs also daily. And a clean towel daily. What would you like to eat today? And they show you what’s available. Really go out of their way to make us comfortable. Not once do they make you feel not important. You get a colourful hand of up to 16 tablets at a time. You just admire the colour scheme and swallow it.”
The post has more than more than 400 shares and has been watched more than 14 000 times as of Thursday evening.
Prior to its opening, the premier said that the facility will assist patients who are in recovery but still require medical care, and they will be treated at the hospital until they are well enough to go home.
"Healthcare facilities at the hospital include apparatus to administer oxygen, a digital X-ray machine, physiotherapy areas as well as an on-site pharmacy. The hospital will be a place of healing for many, and has for this reason been named The Hospital of Hope," Winde said.
More than 100 people from the various contracting companies worked on the site, with the commissioning team consisting of 40 team members focusing on various areas including infrastructure, engineering IT, health technology and staffing.
Winde added that the hospital was specially designed to reduce the risk of infection:
- Each bed is numbered and linked to a paperless system. Admissions, patient files and administrative work is handled on this system in order to reduce the risk of infection associated with moving paper documents and files around.
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A specialised waste management system, which incinerates medical waste, has been installed. A food lift will be used to move patient meals from the kitchens below the hospital to the hospital floor in order to protect those working in catering.
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The staff showers have been placed on a separate floor to the hospital and near to the staff exit, allowing them to shower and change directly before leaving the facility at the end of shifts to further protect them and their families.
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Patients in the hospital will not be allowed to have visitors due to the high risk of infection. However, the facility has made wi-fi available so that they can video chat with family members and loved ones. Winde said he believed this was important as patients "need the love and support as they recover".
The Western Cape Government is exploring the creation of an additional 800 beds, including the staff to attend to those beds, at CTICC 2. In total this will account for cumulative total of 2 227 additional intermediate beds in the system, Winde said.
Cape Argus