By BAKANG MAKOTO
North West Department of Health is ‘under pressure’ to appoint the Head of Department (HOD). This comes after the Portfolio Committee on Health showed concerns during the appearance of the department on Wednesday.
The department was briefing the committee on its healthcare services in relation to COVID-19 and on the vaccine roll-out strategy.
The Chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on Health, Dr Sibongiseni Dhlomo said: “One of the challenges that the North West Department of Health faces in its administration, is the lack of an accounting officer, the Head of Department (HOD).
“The issue of the HOD position remains vacant and the province being placed under section 100 (1) intervention is a matter we were informed about. We were briefed on the challenges relating to the appointment of the HOD.
“The committee, however, noted that the situation that the department finds itself, not having HOD, must have a serious impact on the management of the pandemic, in particular, and the implementation of the Covid-19 vaccination programme.”
The embattled former Head of Department, Dr Thabo Lekalakala was fired back in January 2020 after being implicated in fraud and corruption.
Dhlomo further said the committee needs to have people who would be held accountable. He added that the committee was of the view that in order for the province to have stable leadership and be able to function and manage, the province needs to get out of the administration.
Dhlomo indicated that this is not a sustainable way of rolling out healthcare service in the province.
Meanwhile, the North West Department of Health administrator, Jeannette Hunter said the pending issues related to the appointment of the HOD, the issue of the pharmaceutical budget, and the issue of correcting the budget baseline.
“Currently, the province has sufficient equipment, oxygen and ventilators. Amongst the challenges that the province faces is contact tracing – wrong phone numbers and people not found at provided addresses, the limited capacity of environmental health in municipalities, staffing for the vaccination programme and transport for persons to be vaccinated,” Hunter said.
On matters relating to emergency medical services (EMS), Hunter said they have strengthened EMS with additional vehicles and have contracted additional EMS officers to ensure that patients are safely transported from areas that experience bed pressures to the hospitals in Dr Kenneth Kaunda that have available capacity.
“The committee raised this as an area of concern for the province and one that it struggles with. We are continuously working with Provincial Treasury to reprioritize available funds to be able to appoint additional staff where required. The vaccination of health care workers has started also,” she said.
The Democratic Alliance (DA) Member of Provincial Legislature (MPL) and DA North West Spokesperson on Health, Gavin Edwards said the department has submitted written questions to North West MEC for Health, Madoda Sambatha requesting him to explain the department’s failure to provide effective, efficient emergency services that have resulted in R4 million in debt to private ambulance services.
“Sambatha should explain how the department, with a budget of R408 million, of which R162 million has been allocated to the payment of contractors and special services, still failed to pay invoices within the prescribed 30 days.
“While the Covid-19 pandemic and the associated lockdown has had a devastating financial impact on residents of the North West, private ambulances have been expected to continue providing vital support without payment.
The Guardian 