Patrice Motsepe of the Motsepe Foundation with Health Minister, Zweli Mkhize briefs media about the foundations initiative to procure millions of Rands worth of PPE for medical workers in conjunction with the Dept of Health and Business SA at the office of ARM in Sandton, 7 April 2020. Picture: Neil McCartney
Health Minister Zweli Mkhize has called for coordination and constant communication between the public and private sector in dealing with issues during the coronavirus crisis.
Mkhize said the private and public sector should respond to the pandemic as a single team.
“It is important for us that we approach the outbreak the same way. Any lapse from any of us is going to be a flaw in the entire outbreak response. It doesn’t matter whether you are public or private, we have to do the same thing and have to do it properly.
“All private hospitals must adhere to standard operating procedures and follow the clinical guidelines given by the National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD). Everyone is obliged to follow those protocols, particularly as it relates to the infection control and prevention of the spread of Covid-19,” Mkhize said.
Concerns
He said there have been concerns about some private hospitals in KwaZulu-Natal, including the St Augustine’s hospital in Durban, where 66 people tested positive, 48 of them staff members. Four people died.
The hospital was closed by the provincial department of health.
“Our meeting with private hospitals have been fruitful. There will be compliance with all guidelines from the NICD and when the government steps in and investigates, it will be met with cooperation,” Mkhize said.
“We are going to handle this issue together as a common problem, irrespective of whether it is in public or private hospitals. A large number of people on Covid-19 treatment are in the private sector and their treatment is going to be managed in a similar understanding, that government is managing one outbreak.”
The health minister added that at some point government might need extra beds from the private sector.
“There is a space for collaboration at the provincial level and there are certain decisions that are taken at a national level, like the conditions in which the private sector is going to be utilised and the prices associated with that so that there is no unevenness as we deal with the use of those private beds,” said Mkhize.
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