Tambo Memorial Hospital finally gets new CEO
The newly appointed CEO has been a resident of Ekurhuleni for the past 18 years, and is armed with both public and private management experience.
The Gauteng Health Department has appointed Zenzo Ndabula as the new Tambo Memorial Hospital CEO, and he is determined to get to grips with the challenges faced by the health institution.
He began work at Tambo Memorial Hospital towards the end of last year, and had for the past couple of years been working as a quality assurance manager at Chris Hani Baragwanath Academic Hospital in Diepkloof.
Ndabula holds a BCur degree in nursing, a postgraduate diploma in marketing management, and holds many other qualifications in short courses.
Challenges
The new boss has, for the about three-month-long period of time that he has already been at the hospital, visited all the sections of the hospital to see for himself the challenges the hospital is faced with. He also used the tour to engage the managers in charge of the different departments.
Among the challenges identified are: long waiting times caused by the manual record system, the strain on the infrastructure to cope with the rapidly growing population, security issues and other minor and generic problems.
“We have ongoing challenges in terms of waiting time, in particular the area of file retrieval. We have been trying to introduce an electronic records management system, but we had a few hiccups and that forced us to continue using the manual system. However, I can assure the public that we are engaging the Centre for Public Service Innovation (CPSI) to assist us in that regard. We request our patients to continue exercising patience while we are still busy trying to improve the system,” said Ndabula.
About the issue of the infrastructure, the new boss said that apart from the hospital being old, the facility is no longer adequate to meet the needs of the rapidly growing population.
Renovations
Ndabula mentioned that the department continues with rebuilding and renovating the hospital’s infrastructure.
“We are busy with phase three of the renovation of our casualty department. Phases one and two had been completed. Some of our ablution facilities had been renovated. We, however, also understand the inconvenience caused by these ongoing renovations, but we ask the public to understand that there is a need to improve the infrastructure.”
He added that while he regularly visits the different departments in the hospital, the executive branch of the hospital also do walks around the hospital on Thursdays to interact with patients. “This gives patients the opportunity to meet management and make suggestions. We are considering some of the suggestions that were made by patients in terms of waiting times, and not being able to locate records within a short space of time.”
Also, part of the CEO’s action plan is to intensify a working relationship with the private sector, as well as society in general because he believes that improved service at the hospital benefits all.
Defaulting on appointments
Ndabula urged patients to honour their scheduled appointments and avoid defaulting on their medication because that also puts a strain on the available resources at the hospital.
“Sometimes the hospital beds are filled with patients who stopped taking their medication as soon as they felt better and then they get sick again. This affects bed occupancy because there are patients who are really ill and need a hospital bed.”
Patient satisfaction survey
In a recent patient satisfaction survey the hospital scored 72 per cent overall patient satisfaction, eight percent below the 80 per cent benchmark. Ndabula said the top things patients are complaining about are the issues of cleanliness and waiting time.
“We admit that cleanliness is not yet up to standard, but we are working on improving that.
“This is a community hospital and the community must understand that we are working with them and not against them. If they aren’t happy about something they must advise us.”
Not spared from crime
Another problem faced by the hospital is theft of cables and vandalism.
“We are in a society of crime and we are considering certain measures that may help us bring this to an end.”
About service providers he said they sometimes encounter problems which are caused by lengthy procurement processes. These processes are not controlled by hospital management.
Are we ready to deal with corona virus outbreak?
When asked if the hospital, and the country as a whole, have the capacity to deal with the highly infectious decease, Ndabula assured citizens that the department has put systems in place to rapidly respond to any case that may reach our area.
“We are equipped to detect the virus and do tests. We have an isolation room, and we have dedicated hospitals to refer corona virus patients to. These include Charlotte Maxeke Johannesburg Academic Hospital and Tembisa Hospital.
“If you were out of the country, the most important symptoms to look out for are a fever, coughing and sneezing.
“We haven’t had any cases yet, but should we get a suspicious patient, such patient will be isolated and our staff will assist with testing the patient. If the patient tests positive for the virus we will refer him/her to the dedicated hospitals.”
