The Nelson Mandela Children's Hospital has marked yet another milestone with the opening of a Paediatric Intensive Care Unit (ICU) complex.
On Wednesday, Gauteng Health MEC Dr Gwen Ramokgopa opened the paediatric and neonatal ICU, which consists of paediatric cardiology and paediatric nephrology units.
The hospital is one of the late former President Nelson Mandela legacy projects.
The newest paediatric hospital in Southern Africa started operating in June 2017 to enhance existing tertiary and quaternary paediatric healthcare services.
Children living in Southern Africa need these services, which is the first step in accessing the best quality care for them.
Speaking at the event, MEC Ramokgopa noted that the resources needed to care for children’s hospitals and the skills required are very limited.
“We will not give up until maternal wards are at the state they should be. We have established a clinical governance committee to ensure a referral network that is the best for children.
“We are here to operationalise another phase in this facility. As we strengthen the capacity of this facility, we will make it truly operational in due course,” MEC Ramokgopa said.
Speaking to SAnews, hospital Chief Executive Officer Dr Mandisa Maholwana said the opening of the paediatric ICU is very significant, in that the hospital’s critical care unit alone will add an additional 48 beds to the system to accommodate children from South Africa and Southern African countries.
Maholwana said the first phase, which was rolled out in June last year, was mainly looking at outpatient treatment, specifically radiology.
“The hospital was … assisting with waiting times for MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) scans and CT scans... We’ve managed to assist Charlotte Maxeke Johannesburg Academic Hospital, Chris Hani Baragwanath Academic Hospital, Rahima Moosa Mother and Child Hospital and Steve Biko Academic Hospital, in reducing the waiting list and waiting time significantly for children,” Maholwana told SAnews.
Signing of Service Level Agreement
The event coincided with the signing of the Service Level Agreement (SLA) between the Provincial Health Department and the Nelson Mandela Children’s Hospital.
The SLA is a corporate governance management agreement that has been designed to enhance the governance of the hospital through an effective relationship between the parties.
Amongst others, the agreement intends to define the terms and conditions governing funding by the department to the hospital. It also covers corporate governance issues, as outlined in the Public Finance Management Act (PFMA), as well as the roles and responsibilities of each party.
This year, South Africans commemorates the 28th anniversary of the release from prison of former President Nelson Mandela. Mandela would have turned 100 this year. Events have been planned to celebrate his centenary. – SAnews.gov.za
