Health department “sets record straight”

THE KwaZulu-Natal health department says claims that five hospitals in the province are to be placed under administration is not only false but also misleading. “Setting the record straight” the department said 30 support teams per province had been established by the National Department of Health, as part of an initiative to identify and address challenges with healthcare service across the country.

MEC Dhlomo, who met with the support team from the National Department of Health at his office in Durban on Monday said the delegation was welcome.

“Minister Motsoaledi last week did announce that they would be visiting, and he further elaborated on this when we met at the National Health Council. We are looking forward to receiving support in strengthening capacity at some of our health institutions,” he said.

The department revealed that the teams will spend a few days at each health facility and that the exercise was formally communicated to all provinces, with a request to identify five facilities per province to form part of the exercise. The facilities the department chose included RK Khan, Ngwelezane, Murchison, Northdale, and Ladysmith hospitals. The support teams, which are made up of officials from the National Department of Health, will visit and inspect the identified hospitals.

ALSO READ: KZN Health hosts Service Excellence Awards

“This initiative is a response by Government in its quest to improve the provision of healthcare services, with a particular focus on addressing challenges such as waiting times, staff shortages, availability of hospital beds, overcrowding and the clearance of patient backlogs, particularly in the casualty areas. The support teams will work closely with their counterparts at provincial, district and facility levels and will present reports to the provincial heads of Department. The Department remains committed to providing quality healthcare to the people of KwaZulu-Natal despite the high burden of diseases, and rejects with contempt any deliberate disinformation campaigns by unscrupulous individuals,” claimed the department.

Meanwhile, the Democratic Alliance in the province welcomed the news of the visit by teams from the department.

“Our province’s Health Department is in crisis. The hospitals earmarked for intervention are indeed some of the most problematic facilities in the province with staff shortages, long queues, rudeness by staff, poor management of patient complaints and medicine shortages. Other challenges include supply chain irregularities, overtime discrepancies and broken equipment. Regrettably, they are not the only facilities in the province that require intervention. We believe that this list should also include Addington and Stanger Hospitals as well asSt Mary’s Hospital in Mariannhill, which was recently taken over by the DoH,” said Imran Keeka, DA KZN Spokesperson on Health.

Do you want to receive news alerts via WhatsApp? Send us a WhatsApp message (not an sms) with your name and surname to 060 532 5535.

You can also join the conversation on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

PLEASE NOTE: If you have signed up for our news alerts you need to save the Berea Mail WhatsApp number as a contact to your phone, otherwise you will not receive our alerts