Picture: The delegation of the National Parliament’s Portfolio Committee on Health and North West MEC for Health, Sello Lehari/Supplied
By REGINALD KANYANE
14 October 2024- The National Parliament’s Portfolio Committee on Health has concluded its four-day visit to the North West Province’s health facilities in the Bojanala District. A week long oversight visit saw the members of the Committee led by its Chairperson, Dr Sibongiseni Dhlomo visiting Job Shimankana Tabane Hospital, Boitekong Community Health Centre (CHC), Moses Kotane District Hospital, Mogwase Community Health Centre (CHC), Koster Hospital and the Brits Forensic Pathology.
The Committee’s debriefing session held on Friday at Brits District Hospital, brought to the surface a number of issues based on their findings. Kicking off the reflections on the final day, Dhlomo, said there are a lot of positives to take out of the province’s health service delivery platform, while there are a number of areas that still need improvement.
His sentiments were shared by all the members who while advised on where to improve yet spent a significant amount of time praising the good practices.
“Overall, we are satisfied with a lot of what we have observed in the health facilities that we visited. However, overall, the department needs to ensure that the non-negotiables like medicine availability, contraceptives and ambulance response are addressed.
“We commend the department for having helipads at small district hospitals, which is good for emergency referrals to bigger facilities and for the fact that there have been no maternal deaths at Koster and Moses Kotane hospitals,” he said.
Dhlomo further hailed Koster Hospital for its excellent patient care. He added that while Koster Hospital has an old structure that still needs renovations, he was happy at the level of care.
“We interviewed patients and all of them were pleased with the level of service. As the Committee, we visited various units like the Outpatient Department, Casualty, X-ray unit, Pharmacy and others and all of them were good.
“The only issues that needed improvement at this facility are security, minor maintenance and replacement of the old roof was recommended. We are also impressed by the Brits Forensic Pathology, which has been visible interventions to improve on its state,” said Dhlomo.
He commended North West MEC for Health, Sello Lehari and his management for addressing all the issues that were recently raised in the media and public domain. Dhlomo said these issues which included inadequate fridge capacity for storage of bodies, leading to overcrowding of corps and bad odour have been addressed.
“I commend this mortuary for camera surveillance. We know that if ever there can be a story about missing body parts it won’t be at Brits Forensic Pathology. I have gone around and noticed that there is sufficient backup water, heating capacity, adequate space, backup generators, a waiting area and overall clean environment,” he said.
Meanwhile, in his response, Lehari commended the Committee for their thoroughness when conducting oversight, and thanked them for not only looking at the challenges but also highlighting areas of excellence which others can learn from.
“We have listened to the Chairperson and the members’ observations and recommendations. I can promise that I will work together with our team to address the issues raised,” he said.
The Guardian 