Issued by the National Ministry of Health
6 February 2010
After a five-hour long baseline assessment of the host city Rustenburg in North West today (Saturday), the Deputy Minister of health Dr Molefi Sefularo announced that he was satisfied about the province's progress except for minor teething problems.
Accompanied by Surgeon General of the South African Military Health Services Dr VJ Ramlakan, Dr Sefularo said: "The province is on track but we are concerned about the delay in completion of newly constructed 200-bed Moses Kotane Hospital. Although the construction of the building is 90% complete and to be handed over to the Department on February 28, there are tight deadlines to be observed for procurement and installation of necessary medical equipment, as the hospital should be ready by end of April."
The Deputy Minister's visit included a briefing by MECs of Health and Social Development Ms Rebecca Kasienyane, visits to Job Shimankana Tabane Hospital and Moses Kotane Hospital, an, inspection of the emergency medical services and its control centres, and Royal Bafokeng Stadium's medical centres..
The visit included the assessment of the following areas:-
The North West Province hospital preparedness requires that attention be paid to the following factors.
At Job Shimankana Tabane Hospital renovations into Accident & Emergency with 6 resuscitation beds have been completed. Twelve beds for P2 patients, 6 beds in short stay ward, 5 obstetrics & gynae beds, 5 paeds and 1 Isolation beds have been organized. Four treatment areas, triage area, counseling, administration and 6 theatres are functional. The generator is well maintained and sterilization capacity has increased through additional autoclaves. High care technology has been upgraded. The latest health care technology has been acquired including a functional CT scan and a fully fledged digital machine on site.
The benefits of this for the hospital being ease access into both non and emergency services, improved patient flow, improved patient management and safety. Safety measures include reduction of entrances, 24-hr manning of entrances, installation of boom gates and patrol clocking system.
The hospital disaster management plans have been reviewed and training of outbreak response team on disaster management and disease surveillance is continuing. Five doctors and 3 nurses have been trained on major incident medical management support (MIMS), 10 staff members trained on chemical, biological and radiation incident management. Waste management audit has been done and gaps rectified. The establishment of Thuthuzela centre is in progress.
The province has acquired 40 ambulances, discussions with private providers are underway to finalise aero medical services, and the mass casualty standard operations procedures (SOPs) have also been reviewed. An estimate of 80% of accommodation has been inspected and 50% hospitality facilities complied with required standards. About 70% of food premises have been issued certificates of acceptability.
Enquiries: Charity Bhengu 083 679 7424