Speech by Gauteng Health MEC Gwen Ramokgopa
26 January 2005
Over the past day and a half we have been meeting as the Executive Management team of the Gauteng Health Department to review the progress we have made since April to deliver quality health service in the province. We have also been able to identify focus areas that we will concentrate on in the last three months of our financial year which ends in March and to make plans for 2005/06 financial year.
During the review we were satisfied that we have made progress in a number of key areas, evidenced by the numerous external award bestowed on us. We won both 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 best in the Star Readership category and Mamelodi Hospital won the gold award from the National Productivity Institute.
In the last term we embarked on a recruitment drive to fill vacant professional posts, with particular focus of those hospitals that have had difficulty in attracting staff. We have received 450 applications and interviews will now be conducted. We expect these appointments to be made by March 2005. This is over and above the 317 graduate nurses that were employed in January 2005. By end of this financial year 800 assistant nurses will be employed as interns in various health care facilities. All these appointments will contribute in allaying staff shortage and thus improve patient care.
We have also identified hospitals where we will be taking decisive action to strengthen management and further improve patient care. This includes re-deployment, mentoring and coaching and the development of CEO management development programme. These hospitals have been found to have inter alia inadequate management capacity, more serious adverse events or patient complaints, have high staff turnover and generate negative media coverage.
This year the WHO theme in April will be on safe motherhood and in keeping with that we will be embarking on a number of activities to raise awareness.
In February we will have the pregnancy awareness week, a focus on reproductive health and celebrate the WHO/UNICEF Baby Friendly Hospital Initiative awards at some of our facilities.
We have started a new maternity obstetrics unit at Esangweni in Tembisa.
Additional units will be opened at Ramokonopi and Phola Park clinics before April this year. The new upgraded maternity unit at the Far East Rand hospital will be complete in March 2005.
In this period 42 new ambulances were purchased and distributed throughout the province as part of our ongoing commitment to replace ageing fleet and improve the service. A further 35 ambulances have been ordered and will be delivered before the end of the financial year.
Recognising the importance of access to rapid emergency services, I have noted with concern thatthe municipalities of the City of Johannesburg, Tshwane and Sedibeng are struggling to meet our provincial standard of reaching the majority of priority one patients within 15 minutes. We have adopted specific measures to improve the situation. These include provincial supervisors at ambulance control centres and weekly monitoring and reporting.
In April last year, we made an undertaking to train community health workers. These are community members who work with our clinics to look after chronically ill or patients who recovering from home. We have trained 698 so far. Training for a further 298 will be taking place final in this quarter.
Our aim is to have 3000 trained community health workers by the end of the 2006/07 financial year.
I am happy to report that progress has been made to build or upgrade our clinics, community health centres and hospitals. I am happy to report that the construction of Soshanguve Block L clinic is nearing completion and we expect to take delivery of it in March. The upgrading of the following community health centres; Stanza Bopape in Mamelodi and Stretford in Orange Farm and Hillbrow is nearing completion.
We are also making pleasing progress in the implementation of the comprehensive treatment and care programme to people living with AIDS. When the programme started, we announced that our aim is to provide treatment from 23 facilities and treat 10 000 by end of March 2005. As at 20 January 2005, we have already reached this target. To date, we have seen 68 393 people in our facilities. Most of these people are on various wellness programmes.
For more information contact:
Mr Popo Maja
Director: Communications and Public Relations
Office: (011) 355-3841
Mobile: 082 373 1169
popom@gpg.gov.za
Or
Mr Simon Zwane, Spokesperson for the MEC
Office: (011) 355-3543
Mobile: 082 551 9892
simonz@gpa.gov.za
26 January 2005
Over the past day and a half we have been meeting as the Executive Management team of the Gauteng Health Department to review the progress we have made since April to deliver quality health service in the province. We have also been able to identify focus areas that we will concentrate on in the last three months of our financial year which ends in March and to make plans for 2005/06 financial year.
During the review we were satisfied that we have made progress in a number of key areas, evidenced by the numerous external award bestowed on us. We won both 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 best in the Star Readership category and Mamelodi Hospital won the gold award from the National Productivity Institute.
In the last term we embarked on a recruitment drive to fill vacant professional posts, with particular focus of those hospitals that have had difficulty in attracting staff. We have received 450 applications and interviews will now be conducted. We expect these appointments to be made by March 2005. This is over and above the 317 graduate nurses that were employed in January 2005. By end of this financial year 800 assistant nurses will be employed as interns in various health care facilities. All these appointments will contribute in allaying staff shortage and thus improve patient care.
We have also identified hospitals where we will be taking decisive action to strengthen management and further improve patient care. This includes re-deployment, mentoring and coaching and the development of CEO management development programme. These hospitals have been found to have inter alia inadequate management capacity, more serious adverse events or patient complaints, have high staff turnover and generate negative media coverage.
This year the WHO theme in April will be on safe motherhood and in keeping with that we will be embarking on a number of activities to raise awareness.
In February we will have the pregnancy awareness week, a focus on reproductive health and celebrate the WHO/UNICEF Baby Friendly Hospital Initiative awards at some of our facilities.
We have started a new maternity obstetrics unit at Esangweni in Tembisa.
Additional units will be opened at Ramokonopi and Phola Park clinics before April this year. The new upgraded maternity unit at the Far East Rand hospital will be complete in March 2005.
In this period 42 new ambulances were purchased and distributed throughout the province as part of our ongoing commitment to replace ageing fleet and improve the service. A further 35 ambulances have been ordered and will be delivered before the end of the financial year.
Recognising the importance of access to rapid emergency services, I have noted with concern thatthe municipalities of the City of Johannesburg, Tshwane and Sedibeng are struggling to meet our provincial standard of reaching the majority of priority one patients within 15 minutes. We have adopted specific measures to improve the situation. These include provincial supervisors at ambulance control centres and weekly monitoring and reporting.
In April last year, we made an undertaking to train community health workers. These are community members who work with our clinics to look after chronically ill or patients who recovering from home. We have trained 698 so far. Training for a further 298 will be taking place final in this quarter.
Our aim is to have 3000 trained community health workers by the end of the 2006/07 financial year.
I am happy to report that progress has been made to build or upgrade our clinics, community health centres and hospitals. I am happy to report that the construction of Soshanguve Block L clinic is nearing completion and we expect to take delivery of it in March. The upgrading of the following community health centres; Stanza Bopape in Mamelodi and Stretford in Orange Farm and Hillbrow is nearing completion.
We are also making pleasing progress in the implementation of the comprehensive treatment and care programme to people living with AIDS. When the programme started, we announced that our aim is to provide treatment from 23 facilities and treat 10 000 by end of March 2005. As at 20 January 2005, we have already reached this target. To date, we have seen 68 393 people in our facilities. Most of these people are on various wellness programmes.
For more information contact:
Mr Popo Maja
Director: Communications and Public Relations
Office: (011) 355-3841
Mobile: 082 373 1169
popom@gpg.gov.za
Or
Mr Simon Zwane, Spokesperson for the MEC
Office: (011) 355-3543
Mobile: 082 551 9892
simonz@gpa.gov.za
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