The Cipla Foundation’s Sha’p Left initiative has partnered with the FirstRand Empowerment Foundation (FREF) to enhance access to affordable, high-quality primary healthcare in underserved South African communities. The partnership will scale Sha’p Left’s nurse-led clinics across the Western Cape, KwaZulu-Natal, and Gauteng, increasing the number of surgeries from 11 to 61 by the end of 2029.
This collaboration will help overcome systemic barriers to healthcare, particularly in ensuring equitable access for low-income, uninsured individuals.
Making healthcare accesible again
For many people living in peri-urban and rural areas, access to quality primary healthcare services poses a significant challenge.
Overburdened public medical facilities are often congested, leading to long wait times for patients.
Sha’p Left’s nurse surgeries are located in easily accessible hubs, such as busy taxi ranks, to promote ease of access.
In addition to saving travel time, it helps empower people in both caring for their health and in their finances: the lack of queues means they don’t need to take a full day off work (and lose income) to access basic healthcare.
Currently, Sha’p Left serves more than 5,000 patients monthly, with a patient profile split of 60% female to 40% male.
The existing clinics are GMP-compliant containerised solutions.
As part of environmental sustainability initiatives and to lower overhead costs, solar solutions are being implemented at these clinics.
Strengthening community-based primary healthcare supports national health priorities by reducing the burden on public facilities, promoting preventative healthcare and creating an empowering, dignified experience for patients.
Addressing inequality
The investment by FREF will help Sha’p Left to deploy more nurse surgeries, and these solutions will ultimately help address inequality and reduce poverty, as access to quality healthcare is a basic human right.
The business model involves enterprise development in conjunction with qualified, predominantly women clinical nurse practitioners (CNPs) and assists them in establishing sustainable, owner-operated clinics in identified communities to provide affordable primary healthcare services.
This fee-for-service model, driven by the “entreprenurses”, provides a dignified and holistic patient experience.
The surgeries hold dispensing licenses; therefore, a consultation includes the necessary medication, including Schedule 4 medicines.
The first three nurse surgeries being deployed in 2026, as part of this partnership, are in these areas: Senoane (Gauteng), KwaNyuswa (KZN), and Verulam (KZN).
