KZN Health MEC, Ms Nomagugu Simelane-Zulu is making sure senior management in her department share a collective responsibility to the public.
The MEC has embarked on a shake up in her department holding senior staff accountable, lobbying for funding to employ staff to fill at least 60 per cent of available posts and trimming office staff by sending medical staff back into the field to serve at hospitals and clinics.
The minister has instructed that state-issued cellphone numbers of district managers, all facility managers and those who manage Emergency Medical Service, be made availble to the public.
“Why should I be the only one who gets phone calls in the middle of the night? If we are serious about being public servants, then we must all be accessible to the public,” she said, adding that the changes she is making are not like to make her popular in certain quarters.
However, she said the changes were crucial if the Department wanted to serve the public and iprove health outcomes in the province.
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“We are going to place an advert in the newspaper and on our online platforms with names and contact details of district managers, all facility managers, as well as those who manage our Emergency Medical Service. The overall intention is to ensure that people have access to those who are responsible for managing. We must be able to work together. Managers are employed to manage. They are not there to be our friends. To manage is to be able to guide, but also ensure that there are consequences when your guidance is not being taken. If it means we must get refresher courses, then that’s what we must do. There are going to be consequences when things do not happen,” she said.
The MEC has also vowed to continue lobbying for the unfreezing of more posts in order to relieve overburdened healthcare professionals.
This, she said, could see the Department filling up to 60% of available posts.
“We know that there are nurses who end up serving two wards with 40 beds each and we understand this takes a toll on our staff. We’ve requested the Premier and Minister to assist us to try and get money, so that we get at least 60% of the staffing that we need, so that we are able to operate at an optimal level. The commitment that we’ve received from the Premier is that he’s willing to listen to us, but we need to reduce our bloated staff complement at head office. According to the Premier, there are too many of us at Head Office. So, some of us need to leave head office and go back and serve the community at facility level.”
“We have a lot of doctors and other health specialists at head office. They should be able to indicate how many hours per month they will spending working in health facilities to assist with the skills that they have.”
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