Members of the Mayoral Committees for Health
Councillors present
Deputy President of Democratic Nursing Organisation of South Africa (DENOSA), Professor Olga Nkondo
Senior managers from the Gauteng Department of Health
Senior managers from local government
Principals of nursing colleges
Chairpersons of hospital boards
Retired nurses
Our very distinguished guests, the nurses
Programme director, from the onset, let me express my deep gratitude to all of you, especially to nurses who are still in active duty, and those who have retired. We are indebted to you for your continued service to the public and particularly the poor. You remain the bedrock of the public health system in Gauteng.
Let me also take this opportunity to commend you for having chosen to remain in the public sector, when others decided to seek greener pastures in the private sector and overseas. I am fully aware of the challenges that you and the community you serve face. The ever-increasing pressures of workload coupled with the sharp rise in the number of people who are wholly dependent on public health system remain a serious concern. Yet I am humbled by your tenacity and dedication in spite of all the challenges you face.
I consider this occasion as a rare opportunity for us to share the same space and time in search of what could be the strategic solution to the challenges encountered in the public health system. When the current government was voted into power by the overwhelming majority in the last 2009 elections, it was on the basis of the manifesto which amongst others emphasised the centrality and significance of the issue of: “Upgrade and improve public hospitals and clinics, as well as the administrative systems and buildings so that long queues and waiting times are reduced and improved quality of care is available”.
Stemming from the provisions of the manifesto, government has identified health as one of its five priorities. We made this commitment because we believed that in you we have dedicated human capitals which can turn the peoples’ aspirations into tangible reality. In order for us to reach that end, it is imperative that we revisit the basic tenets that underpin such a noble calling which the highly esteemed Florence Nightingale sacrificed and lived for.
We therefore need to ask honest and critical questions. What happened to the ethos of hard work, caring for the sick and excellent service? What happened to the professional conduct that requires of us to place the interests and well being of the sick before ours? What happened to the nurse in white, crisp uniform that exudes love and hope and instil confidence that we were all accustomed to?
Why have we turned our hospitals into death chambers? The cleanliness and hygiene environment that was once the character of our hospitals has gone into dogs. I think this is a situation that we should not allow. It is a situation that we should all arrest. It flies in the face of what lady Nightingale once taught us to believe in. Her dictum for that is remains relevant today. She simply states: “It may seem a strange principle to enunciate as the very first requirement in a hospital that it should do the sick no harm”.
I believe that it is only through working together as a dedicated collective that we can recapture the spirit and ethos once espoused by Florence Nightingale. We can turn our hospitals and clinics into centres of hope. This is what we must all work to achieve.
As government, we have always put more and more resources into providing skills and training of our personnel as well as the improvement of conditions in health institutions. We have always recognised that if nurses and other medical practitioners’ conditions of work are not conducive their morale and commitment in the public health system will be compromised.
To illustrate this political commitment it is worth mentioning the value of investment the government is making on training of nurses in our province. For example, in 2005 we invested R173 945 000 and this has increased exponentially to R483 038 000 this year. This investment on training of nurses would be equal or if not more than the entire health budget of other developing countries. When taking this kind of investment into account, we are therefore obliged to produce better health outcomes.
Despite such investment, we are still faced with the challenge of staff shortages, particularly nursing staff, in our hospitals. This challenge is compounded by the fact that while we continue to produce the best trained and skilled nurses, the developed nations continue to hunt and poach our nurses thus depleting our resource.
It is for this reason that in 2004 the Gauteng government took a conscious policy decision to re-open previously closed nursing colleges in order to address this shortage. We also committed ourselves to increase nurse production by 20 percent annually, with effect from January 2005. In January 2005, 804 professional nurses graduated from our nursing colleges. In January 2009, 1 666 professional nurses graduated from our nursing colleges.
These figures reflect an exponential increase of 100 percent in nurse production from the beginning of 2005 until the beginning of this year. This is in line with the view contained in our manifesto stating that “there will be a focus on increasing health worker training output in the public sector”.
We are going to continue with our investment in the training of our nurses. We want our nurses to be the best in the world when it comes to clinical care.
Ladies and gentlemen,
Since we made a call to business and other civil organisation to partner with government in improving the conditions of our hospitals, we have been inundated with calls from many businesses who want to come to the party. We have already form partnerships with some to address conditions and assist in turning around hospitals such as Chris Hani Baragwanath. These business partners are not only investing material resources but also volunteering their business skills to assist in the management of hospitals.
We have also received calls from some retired and highly experienced nurses who feel that they cannot stand on the sidelines and watch our healthcare service declining. They say they want to be part of the fight against the rot in our hospitals. As a result, we resolved that we should make a call to invite all retired nurses to come back and work with us to improve the situation.
We are conscious of the complications that come with such calls. We understand that we need to discuss many technical issues with this group relating to their role and incentives. But we believe that when we discuss we will find a way on how we will work with them.
Distinguished guest,
At this point, I would like to draw your attention to the three principles of Batho Pele which are very relevant here. The WE BELONG, WE CARE, and WE SERVE principle must continue to guide how we provide healthcare. In practical terms, the apt action will be the reintroduction of supervision by nurse managers. They must return to the practice of visiting wards, moving from bed to bed in order to ensure that patients receive the best possible care.
Programme director,
When all is said and done, the fact is that the biggest responsibility to recapture the respect which nursing as a profession and calling once enjoyed among our people lies with your. Nurses do not cease to be nurses when they have knocked off, or even when they retire. You are the beacon of hope to many of our poor people. Our people placed their trust in your hands. You cannot fail them. Your role in ensuring that the health status of our people is improved can never be under-estimated!
I therefore want to assure you of our support as the Gauteng provincial government, and we are open and willing to always listen to issues you want to discuss. Working together as a team, nothing will beat us. We need to provide healthcare without compromising quality.
Thank you.
Source: Gauteng Provincial Government
