In a bid to attract top-flight health professionals to rural hospitals, the provincial health department has set aside R93.5-million to improve accommodation for them.
The health department yesterday revealed that provision of decent accommodation for doctors and other healthcare practitioners while they were employed in rural hospitals was to be one of their top priorities in the 2016-17 financial year, which commenced last week.
Delivering her department’s policy and budget speech at the Bhisho legislature yesterday, health MEC Dr Phumza Dyantyi said as part of her department’s infrastructure delivery programme in the 2016-17 financial year, they would focus on the “very important programme of providing accommodation for health professionals”.
She said the programme would target “rural and far-flung” areas.
Dyantyi said that for starters an amount of R93.5-million had been allocated to upgrade accommodation at Taylor Bequest Hospital in Mount Fletcher, Nessie Knight Hospital in Qumbu, All Saints Hospital and Mjanyana Hospital, both in Ngcobo, and Madwaleni Hospital in Elliotdale.
“We believe that this intervention will go a long way in attracting and retaining health professionals in these rural areas,” Dyantyi said.
She said adequate health infrastructure was vital in the provision of quality health care services.
Dyantyi said in 2016-17 the department would continue with its “strategic decision” to focus on renovating and revamping existing health facilities as well as complete current projects, as opposed to outright building of new structures.
Her department was one of five that presented policy speeches yesterday.
Social development MEC Nancy Sihlwayi revealed that her department planned, in this financial year, to employ 100 social work graduates who had been sponsored throughout their studies by the department but who were currently sitting at home unemployed.
Sihlwayi said there were over 700 such social work graduates in need of placement.
She explained that her department had placed a moratorium on bursaries for social work students until they had absorbed the backlog and placed the waiting students who had already completed their studies.
This announcement comes barely a month after about 30 unemployed social work graduates camped in a desperate protest outside her offices for an entire week to demand placement.
Addressing the legislature, Sihlwayi said giving the 100 graduates permanent jobs was part of the endeavour to address the increasing social ills facing society.
Sihlwayi also revealed that the department had plans to engage a number of retired social workers in a programme of “skills transfer to the current crop of social work cadres”.
This was “in order to enhance strategic partnership with social work professionals in the sector” and “ improve qualitatively professional social work interventions” to service beneficiaries.
She said there was a need to send some social workers to schools in the province because “social ills have impacted negatively on the learner performance” in some schools.
“The department will advertise the reprioritised attrition posts to accommodate the appointment of social workers,” she said.
She also revealed that her department had been in contact with the South African Social Security Agency, the correctional services department and the national Social Development Department.
“All have committed to recruiting some of these unemployed social work graduates,” she added.
The legislature’s policy speech was delivered by speaker Noxolo Kiviet.
Other provincial departments are scheduled to deliver their speeches today and tomorrow. — asandan@dispatch.co.za
Better housing for rural doctors
The health department yesterday revealed that provision of decent accommodation for doctors and other healthcare practitioners while they were employed in rural hospitals was to be one of their top priorities in the 2016-17 financial year, which commenced last week.
Delivering her department’s policy and budget speech at the Bhisho legislature yesterday, health MEC Dr Phumza Dyantyi said as part of her department’s infrastructure delivery programme in the 2016-17 financial year, they would focus on the “very important programme of providing accommodation for health professionals”.
She said the programme would target “rural and far-flung” areas.
Dyantyi said that for starters an amount of R93.5-million had been allocated to upgrade accommodation at Taylor Bequest Hospital in Mount Fletcher, Nessie Knight Hospital in Qumbu, All Saints Hospital and Mjanyana Hospital, both in Ngcobo, and Madwaleni Hospital in Elliotdale.
“We believe that this intervention will go a long way in attracting and retaining health professionals in these rural areas,” Dyantyi said.
She said adequate health infrastructure was vital in the provision of quality health care services.
Dyantyi said in 2016-17 the department would continue with its “strategic decision” to focus on renovating and revamping existing health facilities as well as complete current projects, as opposed to outright building of new structures.
Her department was one of five that presented policy speeches yesterday.
Social development MEC Nancy Sihlwayi revealed that her department planned, in this financial year, to employ 100 social work graduates who had been sponsored throughout their studies by the department but who were currently sitting at home unemployed.
Sihlwayi said there were over 700 such social work graduates in need of placement.
She explained that her department had placed a moratorium on bursaries for social work students until they had absorbed the backlog and placed the waiting students who had already completed their studies.
This announcement comes barely a month after about 30 unemployed social work graduates camped in a desperate protest outside her offices for an entire week to demand placement.
Addressing the legislature, Sihlwayi said giving the 100 graduates permanent jobs was part of the endeavour to address the increasing social ills facing society.
Sihlwayi also revealed that the department had plans to engage a number of retired social workers in a programme of “skills transfer to the current crop of social work cadres”.
This was “in order to enhance strategic partnership with social work professionals in the sector” and “ improve qualitatively professional social work interventions” to service beneficiaries.
She said there was a need to send some social workers to schools in the province because “social ills have impacted negatively on the learner performance” in some schools.
“The department will advertise the reprioritised attrition posts to accommodate the appointment of social workers,” she said.
She also revealed that her department had been in contact with the South African Social Security Agency, the correctional services department and the national Social Development Department.
“All have committed to recruiting some of these unemployed social work graduates,” she added.
The legislature’s policy speech was delivered by speaker Noxolo Kiviet.
Other provincial departments are scheduled to deliver their speeches today and tomorrow. — asandan@dispatch.co.za
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