An innovative plan to reduce the waiting time for patients at hospitals has won the top prize in the Siemens Healthiness Innovation Think Tank Programme. The programme which was hosted by Regent Business School, saw 21 candidates develop ideas to best solve South Africa’s health challenges.
The winning team developed ideas that aim to improve patients’ quality of care while reducing their waiting time at busy healthcare facilities. The team also developed a cheaper source of energy that will assist rural hospitals during power outages.
Congrats to the winning teams of the @SiemensHealth Innovation Think Tank Program, held at our Durban campus and online.@HonorisUni #EducationForImpact #frugalbiomedicalinnovations #SiemensHealthineers #innovationinhealthcare pic.twitter.com/Ia7yNzf5iT
— REGENT BUSINESS SCHOOL (@REGENT_BSchool) September 20, 2022
Winning team member Sameshin Reddy, who is a pharmacist at Prince Mshiyeni Hospital in Durban, explains how their idea uses innovation and technology to address real-life problems.
“So both the ideas we conceptualised for our projects were ultimately aimed at improving the patient experience and quality and care. So the reduction of patient waiting time concept was born out of both my personal and professional experience. So currently, around 80% of SA’s population goes to public health care facilities to access health care and these facilities have their own challenges which are difficult to evaluate.”
“I think often challenges prolong long waiting times for patients and in addition because I’ve worked in a public sector hospital in KZN. I’ve witnessed first-hand the frustration associated with long waiting times,” says Reddy.
