Significant improvements by the provincial department of health have placed public healthcare service delivery on par with the best in the country, according to health MEC Dr Pumza Dyantyi.
Dyantyi was speaking at the department’s stakeholder breakfast held in partnership with the Daily Dispatch at Cecilia Makiwane Hospital in Mdantsane yesterday.
She was reflecting on the improvements by the department in improving services across the province.
“Our focus is no longer on building new facilities, but on further capacitating the ones we already have.”
She said focusing on infrastructure and human resource development in healthcare centres had led to improvements in service delivery.
Dyantyi said one of the developmental leaps was going digital to keep patients’ information secure.
“Record-keeping is a weakness in the public healthcare system. The department is introducing a broadband digitisation project to capture patient files and documentation. We are hoping to completely do away with brown files in the next three years.”
She said she believed many of the litigation claims against the department were fuelled by poor record-keeping. The department currently has 2000 litigation cases, which amounted to R17-billion in claims.
“If there’s one thing that keeps me awake at night, it’s the contingent liability claims.
“Most of them date back to the early 2000s, and we have found that most claims aren’t genuine. We have realised that most patients just want admission that they were wronged, and want to be heard.
“A lot of evidence has gone missing, with papers in files going missing, and that’s another thing going digital is going to help us with.
“The government never wins legal cases. We’ve invited a panel of experts to help us deal with these cases. If they can be looked at with a fine-tooth comb, the department might be able to even get a reduction.”
Dyantyi also said hospitals around the province were better equipped to treat tuberculosis, cancer in adults and children, as well as cardiac and orthopaedic procedures.
Mthatha’s Nelson Mandela Academic Hospital CEO Nomalanga Makwedini revealed the hospital’s cath lab for cardiac procedures has been able to operate on more than 10 patients since November 24 when it had its first procedure.
Frere Hospital has expanded its oncology services, increasing its adult section from 27 to 221 beds to treat cancer locally.
Frere’s CEO Dr Rolene Wagner said oncology mortalities in the province had come down by 50%.
Department of health superintendent-general Dr Thobile Mbengashe said the department would continue ensuring the delivery of quality services. “Most problems in the public health sector begin with quality care. We are working to improve multi-dimension problems by bringing in a full complement of staff, more equipment and further equipping the facilities we already have.”
Health delivering the goods
Dyantyi was speaking at the department’s stakeholder breakfast held in partnership with the Daily Dispatch at Cecilia Makiwane Hospital in Mdantsane yesterday.
She was reflecting on the improvements by the department in improving services across the province.
“Our focus is no longer on building new facilities, but on further capacitating the ones we already have.”
She said focusing on infrastructure and human resource development in healthcare centres had led to improvements in service delivery.
Dyantyi said one of the developmental leaps was going digital to keep patients’ information secure.
“Record-keeping is a weakness in the public healthcare system. The department is introducing a broadband digitisation project to capture patient files and documentation. We are hoping to completely do away with brown files in the next three years.”
She said she believed many of the litigation claims against the department were fuelled by poor record-keeping. The department currently has 2000 litigation cases, which amounted to R17-billion in claims.
“If there’s one thing that keeps me awake at night, it’s the contingent liability claims.
“Most of them date back to the early 2000s, and we have found that most claims aren’t genuine. We have realised that most patients just want admission that they were wronged, and want to be heard.
“A lot of evidence has gone missing, with papers in files going missing, and that’s another thing going digital is going to help us with.
“The government never wins legal cases. We’ve invited a panel of experts to help us deal with these cases. If they can be looked at with a fine-tooth comb, the department might be able to even get a reduction.”
Dyantyi also said hospitals around the province were better equipped to treat tuberculosis, cancer in adults and children, as well as cardiac and orthopaedic procedures.
Mthatha’s Nelson Mandela Academic Hospital CEO Nomalanga Makwedini revealed the hospital’s cath lab for cardiac procedures has been able to operate on more than 10 patients since November 24 when it had its first procedure.
Frere Hospital has expanded its oncology services, increasing its adult section from 27 to 221 beds to treat cancer locally.
Frere’s CEO Dr Rolene Wagner said oncology mortalities in the province had come down by 50%.
Department of health superintendent-general Dr Thobile Mbengashe said the department would continue ensuring the delivery of quality services. “Most problems in the public health sector begin with quality care. We are working to improve multi-dimension problems by bringing in a full complement of staff, more equipment and further equipping the facilities we already have.”
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