The Gauteng Health Department says it has increased the number of 24-hour service healthcare centres to 36 across the province, from 30 in 2019.
The department says this is in line with its commitment to improve access to health care and to have 40 24-hour service centres by 2023.
Spokesperson, Motalatale Modiba says they’re appealing to patients to start at these centres first to avoid burdening hospitals.
“A lot of time, we find that patients just go straight to hospitals for the type of care that they would have easily been attended to at a CHC (Community Health Centres ) level and for us to ensure that we don’t compromise the patient’s quality of care. CHC’s must be seen as an integral part of us responding to the burden of disease in the province,” says Modiba.
MEDIA STATEMENT || GAUTENG INCREASES 24-HOUR COMMUNITY HEALTHCARE
CENTRES #GrowingGautengTogether pic.twitter.com/t7lkO5nJdD— Gauteng Health (@GautengHealth) February 13, 2022
Administrative instability and corruption
Meanwhile, the Democratic Nursing Organisation of South Africa (Denosa) says Gauteng hospitals deemed non-compliant with the country’s health and safety legislation can be attributed to administrative instability and corruption.
The Gauteng Health Department tabled its third quarterly report in the provincial legislature this week, saying none of the hospitals were compliant with all 23 regulations in the Occupational Health and Safety Act.
Denosa Gauteng Chairperson, Simphiwe Gada says: “There is the issue of administrative instability. We have not had, for instance, in the last years a HOD that would be able to come in and say these are my plans and vision and that HOD actually be allowed to serve the full term of their contract.”
“Also, there is an issue of corruption when it comes to procurement because people go for shady companies. The HOD and MEC – we have not had those who can track the progress that they make. When you are stabilising the department, you find that after a year or two they bring in a new HOD. This is also, to us, attributed to the corruption that is plaguing the Department of Health,” adds Gada.
DISCUSSION: State of Gauteng hospitals [November 2019]
