Pretoria – The revamped Medical Admissions Ward 20 at the Chris Hani Baragwanath Academic Hospital will help staff at the healthcare facility to cope better with the heavy patient load, says Gauteng Health MEC Hope Papo.
Speaking at a ceremony to re-open the revamped ward on Tuesday, Papo said the hospital needed to have a fully functional admissions ward, as it was one of the busiest hospitals in the country.
“This is the busiest section of the hospital because it admits on average, about 100 patients a day…” Papo said.
Papo said the opening of the revamped ward 20 would also go a long way towards boosting staff morale.
“The relatives of patients who are treated at this hospital leave this facility with a clear impression of how their loved ones will be treated. In other words, their experience is guided by the care that their relatives receive.”
The Department of Internal Medicine at Bara is the biggest in the Southern Hemisphere, with 700 beds.
Papo said despite the fact that Bara was an academic hospital, they continued to experience a large number of Level One patients coming to the hospital.
“For historical reasons, patients who are supposed to be seen at clinics continue flocking to this hospital.
“We are steadily moving away from that era. We have come up with an Enhancement Plan, which will be implemented at 20 of our hospitals (in the province),” said Papo.
He described the plan as a blueprint to stabilise hospital services.
Clinical managers, Papo said, must ensure that clinicians take more responsibility and accountability for clinical decisions, and the effective and efficient management and availability of resources. It was important to have reliable, up-to-date and credible information on each of the clinical and other service units in order to make informed service delivery decisions.
Papo said they have prioritised strengthening management and leadership through increased delegation and authority to hospital CEOs. This will be achieved by empowering CEOs through providing a contingency budget for emergency procurement and delivery of non-negotiable items on an urgent basis to ensure that there are no stock-outs of critical and essential items. – SAnews.gov.za
