Sterkspruit, Eastern Cape, 16 September 2002
Greetings
I am honored to be here with you today to celebrate the official opening of a new building which replaces the old and dilapidated Casualty and Outpatients departments of this hospital.
There is definitely a reason to celebrate. Gone are the days of having to walk out in the open, in the harsh sun or rain, just to get from one overcrowded building to the next.
I understand that this new building has a proper Casualty with theatre and x-ray facilities, a laboratory, a dispensary and a fully integrated Outpatient’s section with spacious waiting areas and consulting rooms. This new building is another example of how government wants to improve the quality of care for all our people.
This project is not just a once off upgrading of a single hospital but it is part of a programme aimed at systematic revitalization of our facilities.
There is an enormous backlog in the upgrading and proper maintenance of our health facilities that we inherited from apartheid. It has been estimated that an amount of more than R12 Billion will be needed over the next 10 to 15 years to provide this country with a high standard of health facilities.
These are facilities where patients do not have to wait in dark and narrow corridors and where conversations between health care workers and patients can be held in private.
Since 1998 additional funds have been made available to each of the provincial health departments to address not only the conditions of some of the existing hospitals but also to build new hospitals in areas where there is limited or even no access at all to hospital services.
So far R1, 8 Billion has been made available to the provincial health departments that is additional to their own provincial budgets. Out of this amount, the Eastern Cape received a total of R276 Million. 80 Projects in 37 hospitals have so far been completed and this new OPD and Casualty building is one of them. It has been built at a cost of just over R7 Million.
Further 74 projects in 35 hospitals with a total value of R870 Million are either under construction, out on tender or at an advanced stage of planning.
Government also realized that over and above the rehabilitation and upgrading of the facilities themselves, a fully integrated approach is needed to provide equitable and sustainable health services to everyone. To only build a new infrastructure while ignoring other factors such as health equipment, management and personnel will not meet the level of the quality of care that we want to provide to our people.
Therefore a multi-facetted approach, using a nationally developed Integrated Health Planning Framework, has been adopted. All provinces have already finalized Strategic Position Statements, which identify their unique approach to a fully integrated and affordable health service, with equitable access for everyone. For the first time in this country pre-determined outputs (instead of existing inputs) are now being used to determine the necessary interventions in each province.
Also, for the first time, these Strategic Position Statements are bringing together the sustainable improvement of not only the physical infrastructure, but also the improvement of health equipment, the organizational development and, above all, the quality of care, which every person is entitled to.
This government is serious about planning and implementing health services in such a way that every individual, whether in urban or deep rural areas, will have equitable access to the health services.
The ever-increasing number patients with AIDS related illnesses, TB and other debilitating conditions is placing an enormous burden on the provision of health services and cannot be handled by hospitals alone. We need to care for different groups of patients at appropriate levels which means some will be catered for within the home based care, step down facilities and hospitals.
Our response to this challenge requires a partnership with communities, non-governmental organizations and community based organizations, aimed at providing adequate support for these patients while intensifying our campaign to prevent further spread of diseases including HIV and AIDS.
Policies and implementation strategies have been developed at a national level to deal with all aspects of a sustainable and equitable health service from home based care through to the provision of tertiary and highly specialized services. The Integrated Health Planning Framework integrates infrastructure, health technology, and organizational development, quality of care and emergency medical services.
At a provincial level, Strategic Position Statements have been developed by all the provinces and are being implemented in nine pilot hospital revitalization projects. (Frontier hospital being the Eastern Cape project). A total of 27 more hospitals have already been identified as revitalization projects starting in the next financial year.
The new building we are opening today must be seen as only a first step towards a cost-effective and sustainable integration of health services in this beautiful part of our country.
This hospital together with its sister hospital, Umlamli, and all the clinics referring to these hospitals will serve more than 200,000 people and they need to be managed in such a way that all health needs are covered without any gaps or duplication of services.
Health technology will also need to be updated and brought in line with the latest developments in health interventions. Information Technology systems and operational manuals must be used and people trained to ensure that we gain maximum benefits from these facilities.
Another part of the integrated approach towards health service planning adopted by this province is Organisational Development. This means that the health department would ensure that this facility will have sufficient personnel at appropriate levels and there will be adequate support to enable the delivery of all necessary health services.
A process has already started whereby each hospital management team will have certain delegated powers, which will enable them to have a far greater control over budgets and the running of their hospitals. There will be an equitable way of allocating budgets and Hospital Managers trained in handling of these substantial resources.
The management team must also ensure that the hospital and its clinics are run efficiently and cost effectively. This means that:
We still have a long way to go but the Department of Health is determined to reduce present inequities and to improve, together with other stakeholders, the quality of health services.
In conclusion I would like to stress the vital importance of Community participation and support. Government cannot do any of the things I have spoken about without your help. You, as a community, have a critical role to play in the planning and management of your health services.
You therefore have to participate in hospital boards and clinic committees where you can highlight your interest and needs as a community. You should hold all of us - the management and health workers - accountable to you as the public.
This is only way you can assist government to monitor the implementation of our guiding principles of Batho Pele and the Patient’s Rights Charter.
This hospital belongs to you and therefore you must look after it. Protect it from vandalism and in the spirit of Voluntarism, you should always be available to assist in ensuring that it provides an effective service to you as a community.
I thank you.