Turning around the beleaguered Tower Psychiatric Hospital in Fort Beaufort does not need a magic wand but transparency and an inclusive management style.
At least this is what new acting CEO Dr Luvuyo Bayeni is banking on to fix a hospital that has hogged national headlines over alleged bad management and ill-treatment and inhumane treatment of patients.
And he only has three months to do it.
“I would like to do my best to follow the brief given to me by the department.“I have always believed in an inclusive management style. I will be maintaining the current institutional committees and structures but I will be adding an element of transparency, consultation and cohesion amongst managers,” he said in an interview shortly after he was officially introduced to hospital staff as the new sheriff in town yesterday.
Bayeni, 36, said he was keen to take on his new position.
“I am excited about the challenge and adventure ahead of me. I see it as a platform to contribute to service delivery to the people of the Eastern Cape.
“Naturally, there is an element of anxiety, especially considering the limelight the institution has had in recent weeks.
“I understand my arrival here is an intervention by the department,” said Bayeni.
Asked if he felt he was being set up for failure, Bayeni shook his head emphatically.
“For me, this is an honour. The department had other candidates to consider but they chose me. I am honoured.
“I am a product of the department. Over the years I have risen up the ranks from when I started doing community service in 2007,” he said.
The 400-bed hospital is currently under investigation by health ombudsman Professor Malegapuru Makgoba.
Makgoba was in the province last week to investigate whether there would be a repeat of the mass death of patients while in the government’s care, as happened in the recent Life Esidimeni scandal in Johannesburg, where 144 mental patients died.
The Uitenhage-born Bayeni – who was previously head of the surgical unit at Cecilia Makiwane Hospital in Mdantsane and acting hospital manager at Andries Vosloo Hospital in Somerset East – will, according to the department, be instrumental in a turnaround at the hospital.
Health MEC Helen Sauls-August said the department had high hopes for both Bayeni and the hospital.
“Dr Bayeni has been sent there to redress the areas of concern that were highlighted by the internal investigation and will also have to implement remedial action from the health ombudsman and refocus the hospital staff to service delivery and compliance to health standards,” she said. — siyat@dispatch.co.za..