Stung into action by mounting warnings of systemic collapse, Health Minister Aaron Motsoaledi in the past week despatched 200 ministry officials to hospitals nationwide, to address management failures.
News24 reports that when outlining his plan of action, Motsoaledi attributed the “distressed” state of the healthcare system to the exponential growth of the burden of disease as a result of a huge increase in noncommunicable diseases such as diabetes, high blood pressure and cancers.
He said that, since Tuesday of last week, 200 officials from the department’s head office had been sent to hospitals across the country to help with management issues. “We are painfully aware of the poor management skills in most of our hospitals. We are also aware of the negative attitudes of some staff members in quite a number of our facilities … While we have mentioned the long waiting times, brought on by the high demand for health services, we also believe that, with good management skills and planning, some of these waiting times can be markedly reduced,” he said…..more