Currently we reach out to the community on their own territory using a Mercedes Benz Sprinter which has been converted into a mobile clinic (generously funded by the Embassy of Japan) and an old Ford Bantam ‘bakkie’ (van/ pick-up), a gazebo and camping tables. For many of our patients this is their only access to healthcare.
Homeless people are less likely to visit Government clinics for fear of discrimination from staff or other patients. However, a good number come to the clinic at the Denis Hurley Centre because they know they will be welcome, they will be fed and they can take a shower. Around 200-300 of the 2,000 people who attend the clinic each month are living rough.
But there are still many who are not well enough, or do not feel confident even to come to our clinic. For that reason, we also have an outreach programme which visits areas of the city where there are high concentrations of homeless people.
Areas that we target are along Point Road, around Addington Hospital, Mansel Road and Greyville Racecourse. A key focus has been people who are living in and around the Dalton Beer Hall at the corner of Sydney and Dalton Roads.
In an average month we see about 500 people.
The services we provide for homeless people on the streets include:
- Voluntary counselling and testing for HIV
- Directly Observed Treatment for TB (tubercullosis) and ARVs (Antiretrovirals)
- Providing and supervising prescribed medication
- Facilitating family counselling when possible, especially for whoonga (heroin based drug – smoked or injected) users
- Referring patients to clinic or in-patient respite unit (Hillcrest Aids Centre) or hospitals
- Establishing relationship with drug users and helping to facilitate their rehabilitation
- Follow up of patients who have defaulted treatment (ARVs and TB)
- Awareness raising and education with community members to reduce stigma of people living with HIV
- Assisting those who are eligible for grants (families, disabled, older people)
- Identifying, supporting and referring vulnerable children
- Providing transport for patients and families to the clinic, hospitals, Welfare / Home Affair Offices and the Hillcrest Aids Centre in-patient Respite Units
- Assisting with funerals
For more information about various aspects of the clinic, click on the following links: