Assessment of Needs and Utilizations of Emergency Healthcare Services: A Community-Based Household Survey in Lavender Hill, Cape Town

Abstract

Emergency Care is a key component of healthcare systems, but little is known about its real impact on communities. One way of measuring this, is by surveying community members to find out about their current healthcare needs and experiences, specifically around urgent and emergency conditions. The suburb of Lavender Hill on the Cape Flats of Cape Town is typical of many peri-urban lower socio-economic areas, with a mix of small formal dwellings, informal housing, and a number of “courts”or flat complexes. Lavender Hill is a community suffering high rates of poverty, violent crime and disease and was chosen as a discrete suburb, within the metropol, that would give a good indicator of emergency care services. The aim of this study was to determine the emergency care needs of Lavender Hills, as well as to identify any unmet needs and barriers to accessing emergency health care.