Refilwe Mekoa
The Free State Department of Health says it is now in a stable state after last year’s financial problems regarding the payment of suppliers’ accounts. The department’s spokesperson, Mondli Mvambi, says they are not struggling anymore to pay service providers on time. “We also had a hard time supplying food to hospitals, but not anymore. Even the medication shortages are a thing of the past,” he says.
Mvambi says by acquiring additional subsidy from the national department of treasury, they managed to solve all the problems. Some of the suppliers will still deliver their services although they are not fully paid. This is happening after an agreement was reached with the department. He continues by saying they are busy investigating the failure of medication delivery in the Free State.
“We are furthermore identifying critical vacancies that need to be filled urgently. Once the management posts are filled, we will fill these posts as they are essential for good service delivery,” he says.
The new member of the executive council in the Free State, Dr Benny Malakoane, has paid unannounced visits to health facilities. Malakoane assessed staff performance by checking patients’ drips, their safety, medical dosages and availability of doctors and nurses. His presence has brought improvements in the medical units. If officials are deviating, they will be disciplined, says Mvambi. Malakoane advises people to report their needs in order to have them assessed. He believes provision of health in the Free State is a first priority.
Mvambi reveals they had trained 200 nurses through Netcare in 2010. “We are committed to placing them in various institutions. We intend to make sure we give the public better trained officials by learning from the private sector,” says Mvambi.
He says the Remunerative Work Outside the Public Service’s (RWOPS) notice regarding doctors is on hold until the matter is solved in court. RWOPS is a global public sector policy applicable to all employees appointed on a permanent basis in the department of health and social services. The department of health last month banned doctors from working in the private sector as that was a breach of RWOPS’s agreements.
refilwe@centralmediagroup.co.za