Residents needing speech and language therapy services now have access to free treatment through a new clinic opened by the University of Fort Hare (UFH) in KuGompo City.
The Speech Therapy Clinic, based at the university’s new teaching venue on Oxford Street, aims to improve access to communication rehabilitation services in underserved communities while helping to reduce pressure on the province’s public hospitals.
“We know there is a very long waiting list in public hospitals. This clinic provides another service point for our community”
— Prof Liezel Cilliers
The facility will provide free speech-language pathology services and serve as a training site for speech-language pathology students in UFH’s rehabilitation science department.
The clinic has been established to help address a shortage of speech therapy services in the public healthcare sector, where long waiting lists remain a challenge.
Dean of the faculty of health sciences Prof Liezel Cilliers said the clinic would benefit both patients and students.
“We know there is a very long waiting list in public hospitals. This clinic provides another service point for our community,” Cilliers said.
The facility serves as both a community healthcare centre and a practical training environment for students preparing to enter the profession.
It offers supervised clinical services to patients across the lifespan, from newborn babies to elderly people requiring support with communication and swallowing difficulties.
Students assess patients and provide treatment under professional supervision, allowing them to gain valuable clinical experience while serving the community.
Fourth-year speech-language pathology student Sekholofeng Malatji said the clinic would play an important role in both training and community service.
“It provides us with the ability to get our clinical hours but also to serve communities, especially underprivileged communities,” she said.
The clinic includes therapy rooms, assessment spaces and consultation facilities designed to mirror professional healthcare environments.
Department of natural rehabilitative science head Prof Mikateko Ndhambi said the response from the community had been overwhelmingly positive.
She said students had already been using the facility to provide therapy services to children and that the official launch marked the expansion of services to adults.
The clinic will now offer treatment for a wider range of conditions, including voice disorders, language disorders, traumatic brain injuries and Alzheimer’s disease.
“Initially we were dealing mainly with disabilities or language disorders, mostly in children,” Ndhambi said.
“Now we are starting on adult language disorders, voice problems and traumatic brain injuries.
“The community welcomed the clinic as there is only one hospital around [Frere Hospital], which has a long list of waiting patients to be served.
“This clinic will also be a relief for the health system as we are able to assist some of their clients.”
University officials believe the facility will improve access to essential rehabilitation services while helping to develop skilled healthcare professionals committed to serving communities across the Eastern Cape.
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