The Gauteng Department of Health has appointed an industrial psychologist to assist nurses improve how they interact with patients. This is after the department received a high number of patient complaints about treatment by nurses.
The psychologist’s first posting will be today at Rahima Moosa Mother and Child Hospital, where nurses will be assisted on how to manage challenging patients, diversity, cultural differences, language, how to focus better professionally, identify system challenges, and team work between departments.
This will be augmented by improving employee wellness program, and counselling for nurses to help them debrief. Gauteng Health MEC, Ms Qedani Mahlangu, further announced today, that more specialist nurses will be appointed, while nursing interns will work as ward clerks, in order to alleviate workload from professional nurses, so they can focus on clinical work.
These are some of the interventions made in a bid to improve patient care and enhance customer service at all provincial hospitals. As part of this the department plans to have patient satisfaction survey conducted on a quarterly basis, instead of conducting it annually, this is to ensure issues are detected early on and addressed accordingly.
The survey will focus on the priority areas, namely cleanliness, staff attitude, availability of medicine supplies and food, the explanation of medical conditions and availability of nurses and doctors at all times. The psychologist will thereafter, visit Tembisa Hospital, Mamelodi Hospital respectively.
“We trust this paradigm shift will be felt in how our nurses render services and it will be easy to pick up which areas and hospitals need intervention from the patient’s survey. Staff attitude is a work in progress, we therefore plead for cooperation from the public,” said MEC Mahlangu.
For more information please contact:
Steve Mabona
Cell: 072 574 3860
For media enquiries, please use the address:
E-mail: mediaenquiries@gauteng.gov.za
