12 May 2017

Kgatleng District will get a new district hospital during National Development Plan 11.

The new hospital will comprise of 250 beds and 150 staff houses, said Assistant Minister of Health and Wellness, Mr Dikgang Makgalemele when briefing the District Health Management Team (DHMT) this week.

He said the new hospital would go a long way in addressing the district health challenges.

Mr Makgalemele also toured Deborah Retief Memorial Hospital in Mochudi.

He stated that the visit was intended to familiarise himself with different health facilities after his deployment to the health and wellness ministry.

Mr Makgalemele said his priorities included standards accreditation, internal efficiency, rehabilitation, staff and public empowerment.

He urged management to ensure that health workers adhered to national standards and their own standards, adding that they  should be publicised for the public to know.

He also said public members should be given the opportunity to evaluate health services in order to improve services given to people.

Mr Makgalemele noted that the public complained of delayed services, urging the health and wellness staff to keep people abreast with information as to why services were delayed.

The assistant minister maintained that service efficiency would be attained if staff members adhered to the 10 point agenda.

He added that each section should contribute to ensuring that health and wellness reached employees.

He also advised the hospital and the district health management teams to share best practices with other district teams.

Mr Makgalemele noted that different DHMT’s had varied interventions for various problems, adding that and it was better to benchmark and share good practices.

Mr Makgalemele also advised the health leadership in Kgatleng to give village health committees priority, noting that community health structures were key in the delivery and dispensation of health and wellness services.

He advised health leaders to come up with ways to motivate and empower both community health structures and village health committees.

The assistant minister also urged health leaders to venture into partnerships with the private sector and other stakeholders, saying the DHMT could benefit from the opportunities.

He also highlighted that inter-departmental support was important and that government departments should support each other as the success of one department benefited the other.

He added that resources such as transport should be shared, noting that all departments were facing transport challenges.

For her part, the head of Kgatleng DHMT and DRMH superintendent, Dr Motlalepula Pone said their biggest challenge was power cuts, adding that the power cuts have affected generators and damaged other equipment and machinery, including the blood bank fridge.

She also noted that the hospital mortuary had been dysfunctional for the past three years, and that people were requested to use private mortuaries.

Dr Pone also noted that they have only one incinerator in the district, adding that it was built to service the hospital but that it catered for the whole district.

She said the hospital had been operating with one laundry machine and one drier for the past two years, but that new machines were installed.

She also noted that the district has 38 vehicles of which 22 need mechanical attention while only 16 were functional.

She decried the bad roads to areas such as Kgomodiatshaba, Ramotlabaki and Oliphant’s Drift as a contributory factor to the frequent vehicle breakdowns.

Furthermore she said they were currently understaffed, and that the ministry had been engaged to fill the 38 vacancies.

She also noted that district health facilities, including staff houses, were being attacked by termites and infested with bees and rats.

For achievements, Dr Pone said they have managed to complete the works for the renovation of the main laboratory, and that the contractor has handed over the project.

She also said they undertook a project for the construction of a shelter for patients at Leshibitse health post by internal maintenance personnel, and that the project was successfully completed. ENDS