Date: 22/02/05
Source: Department of Health, Gauteng Provincial Government
Title: G Ramokgopa: Gauteng Media Briefing 2005
Statement by the MEC for Health Dr Gwen Ramokgopa
22 February 2005
Ladies and Gentlemen.
This briefing takes place following very encouraging events within the public health sector in the current financial year.
Gauteng health institutions won the gold and silver awards in the Premier's Service Excellence Awards for the face of government category, and a silver award for the service innovation category. Johannesburg Hospital was voted the best hospital in the province by readers of The Star in a survey conducted by the newspaper and Mamelodi Hospital won the gold award from the National Productivity Institute.
These achievements have confirmed our commitment to quality health care delivery and have given us confidence to face challenges with renewed enthusiasm and vigour. Our aim is to contribute meaningfully towards the building of province wherein the people are healthy, skilled and productive.
We have to respond adequately to illnesses that afflict our people because of poverty, lifestyle, trauma, violence and psychosocial factors. We have are turning the tide against HIV and AIDS and provide caring, responsive and quality health services at all levels.
At the beginning of the financial year we made a commitment to provide 2 million doses of polio and measles vaccines to children under the age of five as part of the campaign to have Gauteng declared polio free by the end of 2005. We undertook mass immunisation campaigns, which managed to increase immunisation coverage to 90% for polio and 91% for measles. We will have another round of immunisation in April this year and we are confident of achieving our goal of a province free from polio.
TB remains a major challenge facing our people and our province. 7 351 cases were detected in 2004. Next month (March) we will undertake a massive campaign to educate the people about TB, the common signs and the need to complete the six months treatment. Our aim is to improve the detection rate, improve the cure rate to 85% and reduce the treatment interruption rate.
We have introduced the Directly Observed Treatment System to assist TB patients to take their treatment accordingly. This system is being strengthened by the introduction of community health workers. By April this year we will have trained 1 000 of these workers, who will also assist us to spread health education into the homes and in supporting HIV and AIDS patients as well. By March 2006 we will have trained 2000 community health workers.
We are committed to the continuous development of human resource capacity and improved management of health services. The availability of personnel to attend to patients is one of the determinants of quality of care. A total of 1 393 new health professionals joined GDH from April to September 2004. About 800 nursing assistants will commence duties in our hospitals on the first of next month (1 March).
High turnover among health professionals remains a challenge. We are in the process of revising our retention strategy for implementation it in the coming financial year.
The accreditation committee, an independent body established to set up norms and standards and to monitor adherence, is helping us to meet the goals we have set ourselves on quality of care. The committee has set basic standards for all hospitals and community health centres and evaluate adherence. Attainment of accreditation will be included as one of key performance areas of hospital CEOs.
We are also taking steps to intervene in hospitals where we believe there are weaknesses that impede patient care as the Premier has said. We are redeploying managers, developing management capacity and introducing mentoring and coaching to ensure quality management of facilities. We will however not hesitate to taken disciplinary action where we identify non-performance as a major problem.
The state of infrastructure is also important in forming perceptions about the quality of services that the people receive. Overcrowded facilities, or those in bad condition, lower the morale of staff and affect the care given to patients.
Last year we promised to build three new hospitals in Natalspruit, Zola and Mamelodi by March 2009 and to build 10 new clinics by March 2007. The construction of Mamelodi hospital has commenced and the new Natalspruit and Zola hospitals are still in the planning phase. By March next year (2006), we will have completed the construction of Stanza Bopape, Soshanguve Block L and Stretford community health centres. We will work with the Department of Public Works to finalise construction of the remaining hospitals and clinics.
The programme to revitalise Chris Hani Baragwanath hospital is also going ahead. The construction of the new stores and gynaecology outpatients department has been completed and officially opened. The construction of a new hand complex has commenced and it is expected to the finished before the end of this calendar year.
Our comprehensive programme to prevent the spread of HIV and AIDS, treat and care for those who are already sick is still a priority. We now distribute 8.2 million male condoms and 22 000 female condoms per month in the province. Surveys indicate that 70% of young people say they used a condom in their last sexual encounter.
We are making encouraging progress to prevent the spread of HIV and AIDS through rape. The post exposure prophylaxis, which we introduced in two years ago has now been expanded to 51 sites and more than 20 000 people have benefited from the programme.
We are pleased with the progress we have made with the implementation of the comprehensive HIV and AIDS strategy including anti-retroviral therapy, which we introduced last year. As the Premier said we will exceed the targets, which set ourselves. In the coming year, we focus on bringing the sites much closer to the people. We will increase them from 26, which will achieve in March this year, to 40. Our aim is to ensure that people stay longer on the wellness programme before they get a stage where they need ARVs. The programme has helped us to strengthen the health system. About 200 health professionals have been employed throughout the programme to work in our institutions.
There was a very disturbing event in one of our hospitals in the past few days. The attack on an elderly sick patient, Nokufa Zwane, at Pretoria Academic Hospital is the most despicable event ever to happen in a public health facility.
While we improve security, society must also stand up against violence perpetrated against vulnerable women. It is my hope the courts will pass the harshest possible sentence against the perpetrator.
As part of our ongoing efforts to improve the emergency medical services we will be handing over 34 new ambulances next month. This should enable us to improve the time it takes to respond to distress calls.
I thank you.
For further information please contact: Simon Zwane
Tel: (011) 355 3543
Cell: 082 551 9892
Issued by: Department of Health, Gauteng Provincial Government
22 February 2005
Source: Department of Health, Gauteng Provincial Government
Title: G Ramokgopa: Gauteng Media Briefing 2005
Statement by the MEC for Health Dr Gwen Ramokgopa
22 February 2005
Ladies and Gentlemen.
This briefing takes place following very encouraging events within the public health sector in the current financial year.
Gauteng health institutions won the gold and silver awards in the Premier's Service Excellence Awards for the face of government category, and a silver award for the service innovation category. Johannesburg Hospital was voted the best hospital in the province by readers of The Star in a survey conducted by the newspaper and Mamelodi Hospital won the gold award from the National Productivity Institute.
These achievements have confirmed our commitment to quality health care delivery and have given us confidence to face challenges with renewed enthusiasm and vigour. Our aim is to contribute meaningfully towards the building of province wherein the people are healthy, skilled and productive.
We have to respond adequately to illnesses that afflict our people because of poverty, lifestyle, trauma, violence and psychosocial factors. We have are turning the tide against HIV and AIDS and provide caring, responsive and quality health services at all levels.
At the beginning of the financial year we made a commitment to provide 2 million doses of polio and measles vaccines to children under the age of five as part of the campaign to have Gauteng declared polio free by the end of 2005. We undertook mass immunisation campaigns, which managed to increase immunisation coverage to 90% for polio and 91% for measles. We will have another round of immunisation in April this year and we are confident of achieving our goal of a province free from polio.
TB remains a major challenge facing our people and our province. 7 351 cases were detected in 2004. Next month (March) we will undertake a massive campaign to educate the people about TB, the common signs and the need to complete the six months treatment. Our aim is to improve the detection rate, improve the cure rate to 85% and reduce the treatment interruption rate.
We have introduced the Directly Observed Treatment System to assist TB patients to take their treatment accordingly. This system is being strengthened by the introduction of community health workers. By April this year we will have trained 1 000 of these workers, who will also assist us to spread health education into the homes and in supporting HIV and AIDS patients as well. By March 2006 we will have trained 2000 community health workers.
We are committed to the continuous development of human resource capacity and improved management of health services. The availability of personnel to attend to patients is one of the determinants of quality of care. A total of 1 393 new health professionals joined GDH from April to September 2004. About 800 nursing assistants will commence duties in our hospitals on the first of next month (1 March).
High turnover among health professionals remains a challenge. We are in the process of revising our retention strategy for implementation it in the coming financial year.
The accreditation committee, an independent body established to set up norms and standards and to monitor adherence, is helping us to meet the goals we have set ourselves on quality of care. The committee has set basic standards for all hospitals and community health centres and evaluate adherence. Attainment of accreditation will be included as one of key performance areas of hospital CEOs.
We are also taking steps to intervene in hospitals where we believe there are weaknesses that impede patient care as the Premier has said. We are redeploying managers, developing management capacity and introducing mentoring and coaching to ensure quality management of facilities. We will however not hesitate to taken disciplinary action where we identify non-performance as a major problem.
The state of infrastructure is also important in forming perceptions about the quality of services that the people receive. Overcrowded facilities, or those in bad condition, lower the morale of staff and affect the care given to patients.
Last year we promised to build three new hospitals in Natalspruit, Zola and Mamelodi by March 2009 and to build 10 new clinics by March 2007. The construction of Mamelodi hospital has commenced and the new Natalspruit and Zola hospitals are still in the planning phase. By March next year (2006), we will have completed the construction of Stanza Bopape, Soshanguve Block L and Stretford community health centres. We will work with the Department of Public Works to finalise construction of the remaining hospitals and clinics.
The programme to revitalise Chris Hani Baragwanath hospital is also going ahead. The construction of the new stores and gynaecology outpatients department has been completed and officially opened. The construction of a new hand complex has commenced and it is expected to the finished before the end of this calendar year.
Our comprehensive programme to prevent the spread of HIV and AIDS, treat and care for those who are already sick is still a priority. We now distribute 8.2 million male condoms and 22 000 female condoms per month in the province. Surveys indicate that 70% of young people say they used a condom in their last sexual encounter.
We are making encouraging progress to prevent the spread of HIV and AIDS through rape. The post exposure prophylaxis, which we introduced in two years ago has now been expanded to 51 sites and more than 20 000 people have benefited from the programme.
We are pleased with the progress we have made with the implementation of the comprehensive HIV and AIDS strategy including anti-retroviral therapy, which we introduced last year. As the Premier said we will exceed the targets, which set ourselves. In the coming year, we focus on bringing the sites much closer to the people. We will increase them from 26, which will achieve in March this year, to 40. Our aim is to ensure that people stay longer on the wellness programme before they get a stage where they need ARVs. The programme has helped us to strengthen the health system. About 200 health professionals have been employed throughout the programme to work in our institutions.
There was a very disturbing event in one of our hospitals in the past few days. The attack on an elderly sick patient, Nokufa Zwane, at Pretoria Academic Hospital is the most despicable event ever to happen in a public health facility.
While we improve security, society must also stand up against violence perpetrated against vulnerable women. It is my hope the courts will pass the harshest possible sentence against the perpetrator.
As part of our ongoing efforts to improve the emergency medical services we will be handing over 34 new ambulances next month. This should enable us to improve the time it takes to respond to distress calls.
I thank you.
For further information please contact: Simon Zwane
Tel: (011) 355 3543
Cell: 082 551 9892
Issued by: Department of Health, Gauteng Provincial Government
22 February 2005
Advertisement
EMAIL THIS ARTICLE SAVE THIS ARTICLE FEEDBACK
To subscribe email subscriptions@creamermedia.co.za or click here
To advertise email advertising@creamermedia.co.za or click here
