Date: 14/11/2006
Source: Gauteng Provincial Government
Title: Hlongwa: Khanyisa Awards ceremony
Speaker's notes for Mr Brian Hlongwa, Gauteng MEC for Health, at the 8th Khanyisa Awards ceremony
Programme Director,
Honoured guests,
And most honoured guests – that is our finalists in the 2006 Khanyisa Awards:
It is a privilege and a pleasure to be part of this celebration of excellence. I will be fairly brief because I am aware that this is only the curtain raiser and the main attraction is to follow. I hope that I will at least serve to increase the tension and sharpen your anticipation.
Let me say at the outset that I do not have advance knowledge of who the winners are. So when I refer to some of our finalists you should not see this as an indication of things to come.
The Khanyisa Awards have become an established tradition in the Gauteng Health Department. For eight successive years the Department has come together to celebrate the cream of our service providers.
In eight years, the enthusiasm of organisers and candidates has never flagged. High quality entries continue to flow in. And we have been able to introduce additional categories so that every employee in this huge Department, from senior consultant to newly employed kitchen assistant, from great hospitals to tiny clinics can aspire to being part of a winning team.
I want to commend the inclusiveness of the Khanyisa Awards and the way that they promote teamwork by recognising projects rather than individuals.
From the patient's point of view, a health service cannot be good in parts. It has to be a good overall experience. That means quality depends on many people with different skills pulling together in the same direction. Building teamwork is critical to developing a good health service.
The Khanyisa Awards give quality assurance a good name and a pleasant face. While the accreditation and monitoring processes are probably viewed with mixed feelings, Khanyisa as it names suggests is all lightness and reward.
But that does not mean the Khanyisa Awards are irrelevant to tackling some of the real problem areas in our health service.
I was pleased to learn that the Kick-start category in 2006 has been targeted at the prevention and improved management of pressure sores and the development of good hand washing practices. Shortcomings in both these areas have in the past caused preventable suffering and even loss of life. They have also damaged public confidence in our health services.
It is often the perception that it is sheer neglect and laziness when pressure sores develop or deteriorate and when infection spreads inside a hospital. But we know that it takes knowledge, skill and the right resources to prevent bedsores or stop deterioration in patients who are admitted with sores. We also know that hand washing in hospitals is not as simple as it might seem. But it is perfectly possible for every health facility to achieve good practice in these areas and we must see that this happens.
Another critical area where we some of our finalists may be showing the way is that of maternal and infant care. It is really a matter of concern that we have been monitoring maternal deaths for several years now and know the shortcomings that underlie the preventable deaths. But the picture across the country, not only in Gauteng, is not improving.
I am encouraged to see that a finalist in the districts category is a primary care obstetric unit. My immediate thought is, "What can we learn from this service?"
Learning and sharing best practice should of course be the consequence of Khanyisa Awards. Things shouldn't stop here tonight with the handing out of awards.
I am told that Kalafong Hospital has been putting this approach into practice. Kalafong pioneered the method of kangaroo mother care for low birth weight babies. Four years ago this project at Kalafong was a Khanyisa finalist. The contest was close but Kalafong was edged out in the end. This did not stop Kalafong going from strength to strength. The hospital's kangaroo unit is back here as a finalist tonight not for direct service to the public but for the role it has played in training others and developing this method of saving babies.
I must admit that I am looking at the district health services award with special interest. As a government we have made primary healthcare delivery the cornerstone of our national policies. This is a valid goal in itself but it is also the absolute pre-condition for giving hospitals the space that they need to focus their efforts and upgrade their services.
The final comment I would like to make on the projects in contention for tonight's awards is the sheer variety of the work. Some finalists stand out for innovation and the willingness to take risks. Others are admirable for consistency in the setting and maintenance of standards. Some require an excellent ability to manage established systems, others demand the building of new different systems.
Collectively, the projects are evidence of how complex healthcare is and that it takes a wide variety of skills and interests to build a truly excellent health system.
I have said before that my role as political head of a provincial Department does not relieve me of my fundamental responsibility to the people who elected me. If anything, this increases my responsibility to the electorate. Perhaps my emphasis on accountability has made some people uneasy but it should make people in this room tonight feel very comfortable. A sense of responsibility to the public is evident in all that you do it has become second nature to you.
I believe that an accountable, good quality public service is the lifeblood of democratic government and national unity.
President Mbeki has often referred to South Africa's two economies, recognising the reality of the socio-economic gulf that exists in this country between the rich and the poor. It would be tragic and even disastrous if the two economies were to become two nations.
We have to work with absolute dedication to avoid that, to keep the bridges between the people who inhabit the two economies firmly intact. And the public service is one of those bridges. As long the pillars of universal access to good education, to essential healthcare, to social security and to housing, land and basic services are strong this bridge will serve its purpose and help preserve the unity of our nation.
You may not think about the wider significance of your work as you prepare a meal for the patient in ward 10 or teach a teenage mother how to help her tiny baby survive. But on occasions like this we should pause to consider the implications of what we do as public servants.
After 1994 many of us entered government with high ideals. Others who had been in government before responded to the spirit of a new beginning. Delivering on our beliefs and hopes has not always proved simple. It is tempting to become discouraged particularly when we see others fall by the wayside, adopting cynical attitudes, displaying arrogance to the people they are meant to serve or lining their own pockets dishonestly.
That is why evenings such as this and processes like Khanyisa are so important. We need to affirm what we stand for confidently, publicly and proudly. And we need to do so regularly to ensure that the quest for excellence and deep respect for human dignity flourish in our Department.
In closing, I know that the task of thanking people will be left to a specialist who will ensure that nobody is left out. I don't aspire to that sensitive job. But I do want to pay tribute to three people who guided and built the Khanyisa Awards since their inception Sue Armstrong, Peggy Masondo and Shoket Rashid. The two women were shaped and tested in the hard school of nursing management and training while Dr Rashid has been a fighter for minority rights in the field of dental health. Their experience shows in the wisdom, the understanding and the tenacity they have shown in guiding the Department's approach to quality assurance.
Ladies and gentlemen, friends and colleagues, let us celebrate to the full tonight for tomorrow as usual we get back to work! I thank you! Issued by: Department of Health, Gauteng Provincial Government
14 November 2006
Source: Gauteng Provincial Government
Title: Hlongwa: Khanyisa Awards ceremony
Speaker's notes for Mr Brian Hlongwa, Gauteng MEC for Health, at the 8th Khanyisa Awards ceremony
Programme Director,
Honoured guests,
And most honoured guests – that is our finalists in the 2006 Khanyisa Awards:
It is a privilege and a pleasure to be part of this celebration of excellence. I will be fairly brief because I am aware that this is only the curtain raiser and the main attraction is to follow. I hope that I will at least serve to increase the tension and sharpen your anticipation.
Let me say at the outset that I do not have advance knowledge of who the winners are. So when I refer to some of our finalists you should not see this as an indication of things to come.
The Khanyisa Awards have become an established tradition in the Gauteng Health Department. For eight successive years the Department has come together to celebrate the cream of our service providers.
In eight years, the enthusiasm of organisers and candidates has never flagged. High quality entries continue to flow in. And we have been able to introduce additional categories so that every employee in this huge Department, from senior consultant to newly employed kitchen assistant, from great hospitals to tiny clinics can aspire to being part of a winning team.
I want to commend the inclusiveness of the Khanyisa Awards and the way that they promote teamwork by recognising projects rather than individuals.
From the patient's point of view, a health service cannot be good in parts. It has to be a good overall experience. That means quality depends on many people with different skills pulling together in the same direction. Building teamwork is critical to developing a good health service.
The Khanyisa Awards give quality assurance a good name and a pleasant face. While the accreditation and monitoring processes are probably viewed with mixed feelings, Khanyisa as it names suggests is all lightness and reward.
But that does not mean the Khanyisa Awards are irrelevant to tackling some of the real problem areas in our health service.
I was pleased to learn that the Kick-start category in 2006 has been targeted at the prevention and improved management of pressure sores and the development of good hand washing practices. Shortcomings in both these areas have in the past caused preventable suffering and even loss of life. They have also damaged public confidence in our health services.
It is often the perception that it is sheer neglect and laziness when pressure sores develop or deteriorate and when infection spreads inside a hospital. But we know that it takes knowledge, skill and the right resources to prevent bedsores or stop deterioration in patients who are admitted with sores. We also know that hand washing in hospitals is not as simple as it might seem. But it is perfectly possible for every health facility to achieve good practice in these areas and we must see that this happens.
Another critical area where we some of our finalists may be showing the way is that of maternal and infant care. It is really a matter of concern that we have been monitoring maternal deaths for several years now and know the shortcomings that underlie the preventable deaths. But the picture across the country, not only in Gauteng, is not improving.
I am encouraged to see that a finalist in the districts category is a primary care obstetric unit. My immediate thought is, "What can we learn from this service?"
Learning and sharing best practice should of course be the consequence of Khanyisa Awards. Things shouldn't stop here tonight with the handing out of awards.
I am told that Kalafong Hospital has been putting this approach into practice. Kalafong pioneered the method of kangaroo mother care for low birth weight babies. Four years ago this project at Kalafong was a Khanyisa finalist. The contest was close but Kalafong was edged out in the end. This did not stop Kalafong going from strength to strength. The hospital's kangaroo unit is back here as a finalist tonight not for direct service to the public but for the role it has played in training others and developing this method of saving babies.
I must admit that I am looking at the district health services award with special interest. As a government we have made primary healthcare delivery the cornerstone of our national policies. This is a valid goal in itself but it is also the absolute pre-condition for giving hospitals the space that they need to focus their efforts and upgrade their services.
The final comment I would like to make on the projects in contention for tonight's awards is the sheer variety of the work. Some finalists stand out for innovation and the willingness to take risks. Others are admirable for consistency in the setting and maintenance of standards. Some require an excellent ability to manage established systems, others demand the building of new different systems.
Collectively, the projects are evidence of how complex healthcare is and that it takes a wide variety of skills and interests to build a truly excellent health system.
I have said before that my role as political head of a provincial Department does not relieve me of my fundamental responsibility to the people who elected me. If anything, this increases my responsibility to the electorate. Perhaps my emphasis on accountability has made some people uneasy but it should make people in this room tonight feel very comfortable. A sense of responsibility to the public is evident in all that you do it has become second nature to you.
I believe that an accountable, good quality public service is the lifeblood of democratic government and national unity.
President Mbeki has often referred to South Africa's two economies, recognising the reality of the socio-economic gulf that exists in this country between the rich and the poor. It would be tragic and even disastrous if the two economies were to become two nations.
We have to work with absolute dedication to avoid that, to keep the bridges between the people who inhabit the two economies firmly intact. And the public service is one of those bridges. As long the pillars of universal access to good education, to essential healthcare, to social security and to housing, land and basic services are strong this bridge will serve its purpose and help preserve the unity of our nation.
You may not think about the wider significance of your work as you prepare a meal for the patient in ward 10 or teach a teenage mother how to help her tiny baby survive. But on occasions like this we should pause to consider the implications of what we do as public servants.
After 1994 many of us entered government with high ideals. Others who had been in government before responded to the spirit of a new beginning. Delivering on our beliefs and hopes has not always proved simple. It is tempting to become discouraged particularly when we see others fall by the wayside, adopting cynical attitudes, displaying arrogance to the people they are meant to serve or lining their own pockets dishonestly.
That is why evenings such as this and processes like Khanyisa are so important. We need to affirm what we stand for confidently, publicly and proudly. And we need to do so regularly to ensure that the quest for excellence and deep respect for human dignity flourish in our Department.
In closing, I know that the task of thanking people will be left to a specialist who will ensure that nobody is left out. I don't aspire to that sensitive job. But I do want to pay tribute to three people who guided and built the Khanyisa Awards since their inception Sue Armstrong, Peggy Masondo and Shoket Rashid. The two women were shaped and tested in the hard school of nursing management and training while Dr Rashid has been a fighter for minority rights in the field of dental health. Their experience shows in the wisdom, the understanding and the tenacity they have shown in guiding the Department's approach to quality assurance.
Ladies and gentlemen, friends and colleagues, let us celebrate to the full tonight for tomorrow as usual we get back to work! I thank you! Issued by: Department of Health, Gauteng Provincial Government
14 November 2006
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