at the 8th Khanyisa Awards ceremony
14 November 2006
Programme Director,
Honoured guests,
And most honoured guests â that is our finalists in the 2006 Khanyisa
Awards:
It is a privilege and a pleasure to be part of this celebration of
excellence. I will be fairly brief because I am aware that this is only the
curtain raiser and the main attraction is to follow. I hope that I will at
least serve to increase the tension and sharpen your anticipation.
Let me say at the outset that I do not have advance knowledge of who the
winners are. So when I refer to some of our finalists you should not see this
as an indication of things to come.
The Khanyisa Awards have become an established tradition in the Gauteng
Health Department. For eight successive years the Department has come together
to celebrate the cream of our service providers.
In eight years, the enthusiasm of organisers and candidates has never
flagged. High quality entries continue to flow in. And we have been able to
introduce additional categories so that every employee in this huge Department,
from senior consultant to newly employed kitchen assistant, from great
hospitals to tiny clinics can aspire to being part of a winning team.
I want to commend the inclusiveness of the Khanyisa Awards and the way that
they promote teamwork by recognising projects rather than individuals.
From the patient's point of view, a health service cannot be good in parts.
It has to be a good overall experience. That means quality depends on many
people with different skills pulling together in the same direction. Building
teamwork is critical to developing a good health service.
The Khanyisa Awards give quality assurance a good name and a pleasant face.
While the accreditation and monitoring processes are probably viewed with mixed
feelings, Khanyisa as it names suggests is all lightness and reward.
But that does not mean the Khanyisa Awards are irrelevant to tackling some
of the real problem areas in our health service.
I was pleased to learn that the Kick-start category in 2006 has been
targeted at the prevention and improved management of pressure sores and the
development of good hand washing practices. Shortcomings in both these areas
have in the past caused preventable suffering and even loss of life. They have
also damaged public confidence in our health services.
It is often the perception that it is sheer neglect and laziness when
pressure sores develop or deteriorate and when infection spreads inside a
hospital. But we know that it takes knowledge, skill and the right resources to
prevent bedsores or stop deterioration in patients who are admitted with sores.
We also know that hand washing in hospitals is not as simple as it might seem.
But it is perfectly possible for every health facility to achieve good practice
in these areas and we must see that this happens.
Another critical area where we some of our finalists may be showing the way
is that of maternal and infant care. It is really a matter of concern that we
have been monitoring maternal deaths for several years now and know the
shortcomings that underlie the preventable deaths. But the picture across the
country, not only in Gauteng, is not improving.
I am encouraged to see that a finalist in the districts category is a
primary care obstetric unit. My immediate thought is, "What can we learn from
this service?"
Learning and sharing best practice should of course be the consequence of
Khanyisa Awards. Things shouldn't stop here tonight with the handing out of
awards.
I am told that Kalafong Hospital has been putting this approach into
practice. Kalafong pioneered the method of kangaroo mother care for low birth
weight babies. Four years ago this project at Kalafong was a Khanyisa finalist.
The contest was close but Kalafong was edged out in the end. This did not stop
Kalafong going from strength to strength. The hospital's kangaroo unit is back
here as a finalist tonight not for direct service to the public but for the
role it has played in training others and developing this method of saving
babies.
I must admit that I am looking at the district health services award with
special interest. As a government we have made primary healthcare delivery the
cornerstone of our national policies. This is a valid goal in itself but it is
also the absolute pre-condition for giving hospitals the space that they need
to focus their efforts and upgrade their services.
The final comment I would like to make on the projects in contention for
tonight's awards is the sheer variety of the work. Some finalists stand out for
innovation and the willingness to take risks. Others are admirable for
consistency in the setting and maintenance of standards. Some require an
excellent ability to manage established systems, others demand the building of
new different systems.
Collectively, the projects are evidence of how complex healthcare is and
that it takes a wide variety of skills and interests to build a truly excellent
health system.
I have said before that my role as political head of a provincial Department
does not relieve me of my fundamental responsibility to the people who elected
me. If anything, this increases my responsibility to the electorate. Perhaps my
emphasis on accountability has made some people uneasy but it should make
people in this room tonight feel very comfortable. A sense of responsibility to
the public is evident in all that you do it has become second nature to
you.
I believe that an accountable, good quality public service is the lifeblood
of democratic government and national unity.
President Mbeki has often referred to South Africa's two economies,
recognising the reality of the socio-economic gulf that exists in this country
between the rich and the poor. It would be tragic and even disastrous if the
two economies were to become two nations.
We have to work with absolute dedication to avoid that, to keep the bridges
between the people who inhabit the two economies firmly intact. And the public
service is one of those bridges. As long the pillars of universal access to
good education, to essential healthcare, to social security and to housing,
land and basic services are strong this bridge will serve its purpose and help
preserve the unity of our nation.
You may not think about the wider significance of your work as you prepare a
meal for the patient in ward 10 or teach a teenage mother how to help her tiny
baby survive. But on occasions like this we should pause to consider the
implications of what we do as public servants.
After 1994 many of us entered government with high ideals. Others who had
been in government before responded to the spirit of a new beginning.
Delivering on our beliefs and hopes has not always proved simple. It is
tempting to become discouraged particularly when we see others fall by the
wayside, adopting cynical attitudes, displaying arrogance to the people they
are meant to serve or lining their own pockets dishonestly.
That is why evenings such as this and processes like Khanyisa are so
important. We need to affirm what we stand for confidently, publicly and
proudly. And we need to do so regularly to ensure that the quest for excellence
and deep respect for human dignity flourish in our Department.
In closing, I know that the task of thanking people will be left to a
specialist who will ensure that nobody is left out. I don't aspire to that
sensitive job. But I do want to pay tribute to three people who guided and
built the Khanyisa Awards since their inception Sue Armstrong, Peggy Masondo
and Shoket Rashid. The two women were shaped and tested in the hard school of
nursing management and training while Dr Rashid has been a fighter for minority
rights in the field of dental health. Their experience shows in the wisdom, the
understanding and the tenacity they have shown in guiding the Department's
approach to quality assurance.
Ladies and gentlemen, friends and colleagues, let us celebrate to the full
tonight for tomorrow as usual we get back to work!
I thank you!
Issued by: Department of Health, Gauteng Provincial Government
14 November 2006
