Pholosong hospital open day
1 September 2006
Programme Director
Acting Head of Department
Hospital Chief Executive Officer (CEO)
Members of the hospital
Senior managers
Hospital staff
Invited guests
Ladies and gentlemen
I am pleased to be with you this morning at the open day of Pholosong
hospital. Open days are an opportunity for hospital staff to interact with
members of the public, to share information and to showcase some of the
excellent services offered at the hospital. I think this should also be used as
an opportunity to listen to what the needs of the community are and to seek to
understand what their experiences have been in our facilities.
I am grateful that this open day coincides with the opening of a new
pharmacy in this hospital. In my visits to hospitals I have found that
pharmacies are an area where many of our people spend a lot of time waiting for
their medicine to be dispensed.
My views on waiting times in our hospitals are now very well known. I have
said and I want to repeat it that it is unacceptable for sick patients to wait
in long queues before being attended to. I do not need to be told that health
professionals should spend less time in staff meetings and symbolic gatherings
and more time looking after the welfare of patients.
I do not need a three month investigation to tell me that it is unacceptable
that in the age of technology we still have to capture patient information
manually and open new files every time they come to consult us.
I hope all of these issues have been kept upper most in our minds where we
constructed this pharmacy. This should not be merely a nice new building but it
should be a facility that staff members look forward to working in and it must
also be welcoming to patients. I hope that the time of long waiting periods for
drugs at Pholosong are over.
I am heartened by the number of initiatives that the department has
undertaken over the past year to improve the quality of services at our
pharmacies.
In an effort to attract and retain pharmacists into the public sector, we
have upgraded their position, making it possible to improve their salaries.
We have also embarked on a programme to build and improve pharmacies in our
hospitals. Pharmacies have been constructed at the Dr Yusuf Dadoo, Kopanong,
Edenvale, Weskoppies, Pholosong and Coronation Hospitals.
Construction of new pharmacies is currently underway at the Heidelberg, Far
East Rand, Helen Joseph, Leratong and Pretoria regional hospitals. However the
province still faces a backlog regarding infrastructure upgrade and development
needs for the pharmacies.
A total of 163 pharmacist assistants completed training in April 2006 and
were placed in pharmacies. At the same time 66 community service pharmacists
and 38 pharmacist interns were placed in various institutions
Compared to the 2005 baseline study, hospital pharmacy waiting times
decreased by 19% at regional hospitals and 2% at district hospitals. However
waiting times remain a challenge that we must confront and triumph over.
We need to enhance the technology that we use to further improve queue
management. The good work performed by our dedicated health professionals is
often undone by our weak information systems resulting in long waiting
times.
I thank you.
Issued by: Gauteng Provincial Government
1 September 2006
