The appointment of qualified permanent people within these positions will ensure that the hospital achieves its strategic goal and delivers quality services

PRETORIA, South Africa, August 1, 2018/ -- The Select Committee on Social Services has welcomed the fact that the Alfred Nzula District Hospital in Trompsburg has finally been opened and is operational, albeit not currently fully functional.

The National Council of Provinces (NCOP) emphasised during the Taking Parliament to the People programme in 2017 that the Free State Provincial Department of Health must prioritise opening the hospital. “We are appreciative of the fact that the department has heeded the call made by the NCOP and finally opened the state of the art facility for the benefit of the people of the Free State,” said Ms Cathy Dlamini, the Chairperson of the committee.

Despite the fact that the hospital is operational, the committee highlighted its displeasure to the department on the high number of acting officials within the executive management level within the institution. The appointment of qualified permanent people within these positions will ensure that the hospital achieves its strategic goal and delivers quality services.

The committee has given the department until the end of August 2018 to give a clear progress on the timeline towards filling these critical positions. While the committee emphasised the filling of these positions, it was highly impressed by the enthusiasm and commitment shown by the current incumbents. 

Furthermore, the lack of adequate budget to run the hospital has been highlighted as a risk area which will negatively impact on the intended roll-out of the district healthcare package. “It is worrying that the hospital does not have a budget for the purchase of medical equipment and the goods and services budget is negligible. This must be urgently addressed,” Ms Dlamini said.

More worrying was the fact that the hospital was currently operating without a fleet of vehicles which has negatively impacted on its ability to perform certain functions. The department highlighted the constraints it has on procurement of cars in the province, but the committee stressed that processes must be streamlined in order to avoid negative impact on service delivery.

The committee has welcomed the movement the department has made in procuring medical equipment for clinics. “Clinics are important in offering primary healthcare and the procurement of equipment will empower nurses to provide quality services at the coalface of service delivery,” Ms Dlamini emphasised. The committee was appreciative of the fact that the Gariepdam and Mamello clinics have confirmed that they are on par with the ideal clinic model in terms of medical equipment and medication.

Furthermore, the procurement of mobile clinics and 60 ambulances that will be shared equally within all the districts that will ensure that the services rendered by the department reach residents in far-flung areas. The committee also welcomes the appointment of Operational Managers at clinic level to strengthen the operations of clinics.

In relation to the appointment of staff, the committee has stressed the need for the speedy approval of requests to fill vacancies as the continued delays impact negatively on service delivery to the people. “In many public hospitals we have visited we have inferred that officials leave because they are overworked due to slow filling of vacancies. For example, at Alfred Nzula Hospital there is only one pharmacist which means when she is sick the pharmacy closes. The red tape in appointment of employees, especially within the healthcare sector, must be reduced,” Ms Dlamini emphasised.

The Committee will today visit the MUCPP CHC, Thusong Clinic, Kagisanong Clinic and Gabriel Dichabe Clinic.

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Republic of South Africa: The Parliament