OPINION: KZN’s Health Department must first heal itself before it can hope to heal our citizens
KZN’s health services are suffering, its people are suffering, and public confidence in government is waning.
As horror stories continue to churn out from KZN’s healthcare facilities the question is: Are oversight inspections by politicians in fact making a difference and are they conducted in a way that ultimately lead to improved patient care?
Regrettably, such inspections usually reveal numerous instances of sub-standard healthcare and the reality is that KZN’s Department of Health (DoH) must first heal itself before it can hope to heal our citizens.
Ongoing issues such as short staffing, equipment shortages, long waiting times, and insensitive attitudes have led to a lapse in services which in turn has eroded the public’s trust. This is particularly relevant when it comes to critical staff vacancies. This while the DoH is also losing good staff and doctors due to burnout from excessive patient loads.
Many institutions also lack essential equipment, compromising standards and efficacy while the high number of medico-legal claims suggests that the Department has a case to answer for. Then there is the excessive backlog in cases referred to hospitals equipped to handle specialised treatment with waiting periods running into months and even years.
All these issues relate to the Department’s budget. With existing pressure and cuts looming, the question must be asked: How can government even consider the implementation of National Health Insurance (NHI) under such circumstances? This government must commit to fixing what we have before venturing into schemes that reside in in the realms of theory and the unknown.
It is essential that oversights bring about practical and measureable corrective action. There are many techniques in performance management systems that can be utilised and here in KZN, there is a great need for a more scientific, more robust, more specific and ultimately more effective manner in which standards and levels of services are assessed and translated.
At the heart of health services in our province are our citizens who need to have confidence in the system. For government to merely condemn willful neglect or malicious conduct is not enough. The lived experiences that have held the headlines signal the need for institutional and governance reform. A good start would be to look at how health services are rendered in other provinces, and where there is good performance – learn from those methods and practices.
KZN’s health services are suffering, its people are suffering, and public confidence in government is waning. Citizens are crying out for change and it is clear that this ANC-run government cannot continue to do the same if it wants to create a better life for all.
EDWIN BAPTIE, MPL
DA KZN Spokesperson on Health
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