The Eastern Cape Health Department is adopting a zero tolerance on lazy employees who fail to manage properly. Hospital managers failing to take action against their subordinates will be disciplined.
The Department cannot afford a compromise to an accelerated service delivery. We warn our managers especially those responsible for day to day running of hospitals to either shape up or ship out.
Today, the Bhisho hospital head, Ms Nontumekelelo Manqina was put on precautionary suspension for dereliction of duty. This comes less than a week after a director responsible for emergency service in the province was suspended for alleged abuse of an aircraft that falls within the departmental air ambulance contract.
The latest suspension follows reports that patients admitted at Bhisho hospital were forced to bring their own linen and blankets and shortages of soap despite its budget allocation of R69 million. At the same time the department is probing reports that X-ray machines are dysfunctional in a number of district hospitals due to lack of maintenance.
The Department is also looking into the reports that yesterday a standby generator failed to kick in following a power failure because there was no diesel available at the Holy Cross hospital in Flagstaff. Shortages of water at the same hospital have forced the health MEC, Phumulo Masualle to personally intervene and arrange for water provision by trucks as a temporary measure.
This hospital has a total budget allocation of R63 million. The management takes occurrences of this nature extremely seriously. The Department will not allow laziness and dereliction of duty by managers to compromise service delivery to our people. It will act decisively and managers who fail to manage will have their heads rolling.
Issued by: Department of Health, Eastern Cape Provincial Government
26 August 2009
Source: Department of Health, Eastern Cape Provincial Government (http://ecdoh.gov.za/)
