IT’S vital that the healthcare sector take patient care seriously with proper oversight provided by CEOs.
This was the central message of KZN Health MEC Nomagugu Simelane as she addressed hospital CEOs at the induction and orientation programme in Durban last Friday.
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At the event, attended by district directors and officials from head office, Simelane instructed CEOs to get tough on errant staff members who leave patients stranded.
Newly-appointed CEOs include Dr Londa Buthelezi of Pholela Community Health Centre, Florina Mokwena of Fort Napier Hospital, Babhekile Msomi of Catherine Booth Hospital, Nhlanhla Mthembu of Nkandla Hospital, Nelisiwe Ngubo of St Appolinaris Hospital, Sithembiso Nkosi of Nkonjeni Hospital, and Mabel Zulu of the Benedictine Hospital.
“There is a hierarchy for a reason in a healthcare facility. You are expected to manage every single person in the facility. And someone who can’t be managed by you must go elsewhere. If they can’t take instructions from you as the CEO, then they must leave,” she said.
She also urged CEOs to be hands-on, think outside the box, and get creative when addressing challenges.
“When you know your facility has a problem of queues at, say between 7am and 10am do you have a plan for how to manage that? It might not even need you to employ more people, but it just might require you to rationalise your human resources properly. Sometimes, it might even require you as the manager to go and assist.
You can be part of the solution.”
She said that extended staff tea breaks was another common complaint for the department which needed to be addressed.
Simelane has encouraged CEOs to adopt an attitude reminiscent of those in the private sector.
“The attitude of a private hospital is that the patient comes first, and they have a very low threshold for minimum waiting times.
“That is what we tend to expect when we go to private hospitals, but that is not the treatment we give to our people.
“The poorest of the poor in our townships are the ones who should be getting this kind of treatment. They come to us because they have no other option. So, if we don’t treat them in a manner that they should be treated in, it means we don’t deserve the positions we occupy.”
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