Ladysmith Hospital is a government-funded and managed hospital in Ladysmith, a town in the KwaZulu Natal province of South Africa. The hospital falls under the responsibility of the KwaZulu Natal Department of Health, and does its best to uphold the department’s motto: Fighting Disease, fighting poverty, giving hope.
The hospital is a district and regional facility serving the broader Uthukela Health District, which includes Ladysmith and the surrounding towns and rural areas. It also takes referrals from other hospitals. The hospital is estimated to serve a population of roughly 27 000 people in its day wards, clinics and long-stay wards. There are a total of 508 beds across the various medical departments.
The Ladysmith hospital is a multidisciplinary hospital which covers a broad spectrum of essential specialities. Some of the clinical services provided include family medicine, orthopaedics, psychiatry, obstetrics and gynaecology, ENT, general surgery, paediatrics and ICU.
Ladysmith Hospital also has a 24 hour emergency unit and has facilities for clinical psychology, dental treatment and HIV/AIDS counselling. Additional services include dietetics, laboratory work, radiology, physiotherapy, occupational therapy, a natal blood transfusion service and a pharmacy.
Ladysmith is a small, largely industrial city perched on the banks of the Klip River (stone river). It is about 230 kilometres inland from Durban (which lies to the south east of Ladysmith) and lies in the foothills of the Drakensberg mountains.
The city’s economy relies largely on food processing, textile production and the manufacture of tyres. Much of the Ladysmith’s population is employed in these sectors and the prominent language of the area, and thus of the hospital and its patients, is Zulu.
Distances are shown as the crow flies and not necessarily the actual travelling distance.