North West Premier, Thandi Modise said she has adopted Ward 5 (Children’s Ward) at Mafikeng Provincial Hospital as part of her personal contribution to ease the burden on the shoulders of the hospital staff and to help address the plight of sick children in the ward.
Premier Modise, her MECs, Heads of Departments and senior managers from the Office of the Premier were at Mafikeng Provincial Hospital over the weekend as part of their 67 minutes contribution during Mandela Week. They assisted in cooking meals for patients, cleaning wards, washing babies, ironing clothes and cleaning the yard. This marked the culmination of a highly successful Mandela Week campaign in the North West.
During her visit to the children’s ward, the Premier was touched by conditions in the ward and the plight of children. On adopting the ward, she indicated that she would be visiting it frequently and throughout the year. “I’ll do everything possible in my personal capacity to ensure that the ward is in good condition, provides the best possible care for children, is properly maintained and the children stay in a clean and healthy ward”.
Amongst the challenges that the Premier identified in the hospital are inadequate medical equipment, staff attitude and morale, inability to recruit and retain health professionals and overcrowding at the hospital. In addition, the population is growing. The hospital is now serving more people than it did a few years ago. Premier Thandi Modise told hospital management that she was aware of the constraints and challenges facing the hospital.
“Despite these challenges, I have noticed that things are improving at this hospital. But we must do more to assist them to do much more than what they are doing. We need to support hospital staff to help our patients better. We must help to improve the morale of staff, make sure that they have the right equipment to do their work and ensure that we fill vacant posts so that we do not overload our health workers”.
Premier Modise promised that all the identified challenges will receive the necessary attention.
Enquiries:
Cornelius Tanana Monama
Spokesperson: North West Provincial Government
Tel: 018 388 3456
Cell: 082 578 4063
Cornelius Tanana Monama
Cell: 082 578 4063
