A sounding board for patients
Meet the board of the Rahima Moosa Mother and Child Hospital.
Meet the board of the Rahima Moosa Mother and Child Hospital. According to the chairperson, Theresa van der Merwe, the hospital was without a board for an entire year, and the current board was only established in May this year.
The reason for not having a board was because of the changes to the Member of the Executive Council (MEC) of Health’s Office.
“The board has been elected by the MEC of Health in Gauteng and we meet on a monthly basis, we also do inspections, which is a core function of the board.
“We have regular meetings like today and we have other meetings as well when certain needs arise at the hospital. We try to attend all the functions and events at the hospital,” said van der Merwe.
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The main purpose of the board is to form a better relationship with the community, raise funds for the hospital and assist the hospital. The board is there not in an operational stance but in an advisory capacity.
“We would like to form that kind of relationship with the community so that they can also understand the challenges we face as a hospital. We also receive patients who are very demanding and not very polite.
“They also understand that it works both ways and that the staff is placed under tremendous pressure but there are people who can deal with those issues should they arise.
“Should there be any complaints that need to be reported, the complaints committee will deal with that, but respect is a two-way process.”
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Dr Frew Benson, the clinical manager said that if there were any complaints, patients should report these at the administration block.
Complaints have to be in writing, and the board is looking at placing boxes in each department for the patients to place their complaints.
This is all in the hope of establishing mutual respect between the patients and staff.
“In my experience, usually you contact the super lieutenant of that night to try and see if they could assist with the issue and only if it cannot be solved will it be allowed to be placed into the complaints box or department,” said Dr Tumelo Phefo, the deputy chairperson of the board who also serves on the complaints committee.
“There’s also a referral system which we use for the patient to first go to the clinic and then be referred to the hospital. What is happening now is that some clinics are being refurbished and people are not following the referral system, so the hospital is overcrowded,” said van der Merwe.
When asked what has been done to solve this issue, she said that they were in discussions with the City of Johannesburg’s health department and the provincial office about how they could resolve this issue because it is placing a burden on the hospital and the budget.
Should the public have any queries, they can use the contact details below to get in touch with some of the few board members.
Dr Tumelo Phefo on drphefo@yahoo.co.uk, Theresa van der Merwe on Terryvm20@gmail.com, the clinical manager, Dr Frew Benson on 011 470 9031 or Frew.benson@gmail.com or drfrew.benson@gauteng.gov.za or the chief executive officer, mrs S. Jordaan on 011 470 9034 or on email at sjordaan@icon.co.za
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