PPE Launch in Kuruman, Northern Cape On 10 May 2013

Campaign

PPE Launch in Kuruman, Northern Cape On 10 May 2013

Democratic Nursing Organisation of South Africa (DENOSA) and South African Medical Association (SAMA) were joined by members of community, church leaders, traditional leaders, the provincial Department of Health, local councilors and the hospital board during the successful provincial launch of the Positive Practice Environment campaign at Tshwaragano Hospital in Kuruman, Northern Cape on Friday 10 May 2013.

A day before the launch, DENOSA coordinated a clean-up campaign in the hospital where members of DENOSA together with community members rolled up their sleeves to clean the premises of the hospital. Also coordinated by DENOSA was a community dialogue between community members of Bathlaros and health workers at Tshwaragano Hospital about the challenges that both swiss replica watches parties were facing in the hospital. The dialogue is held under the project which DENOSA is a part of in the province called ‘Health Workers For Change’ programme, which aims to change the attitude of health workers towards patients in a health facility, from staff members at the gate to the top management and to give distinction between challenges that health workers encounter as a result of infrastructural shortage in a hospital and come up with channels of raising such problems with the top management instead of taking the anger to patients.

FORMAT OF THE LAUNCH

The event began with a solidarity march from the Bathlaros Library to Tshwaragano Hospital, where, led

by drum majorettes, more than 500 community members and local political leaders joined hands with

health workers in the march by lifting the DENOSA/SAMA placards with following messages:

Enough with Killing of Health practitioners;
Look at practice environment before you charge me;
No adequate resources + staff shortages = patients death;
Stop violence against nurses and doctors;
Non-payment of health workers = slavery;
Inadequate training exposes patients to Danger;
Curb rising malpractice;
Shut down bogus nursing colleges now;
Quality healthcare needs support of community;
High nurse & doctor/patient ratio equals compromised care;
Health Professionals United in Pursuing Positive Practice Environment; and
Away with bogus doctors.

The event was held at the hospital where everybody attended, except for the hospital management. General Secretary of DENOSA, Thembeka Gwagwa, unveiled the eight pillars that make up a positive practice environment in an institution, namely: Safety, payment, resources, equipment, supplies, training, support and respect.

FEEDBACK FROM SPEAKERS

Speakers highlighted the problems that the hospital is currently faced with. These ranged from shortage of health workers to inadequate infrastructure and the impact these have on the quality of patient care.

Hospital board

The chairperson of the hospital board highlighted the fact that there has been no appointment made at the hospital for many years to replace the more than 40 professionals who have since resigned from the hospital. The chairperson also implored nurses at the hospital to exercise leadership and great supervision from the 1st of each month to the following one. The board chairperson pleaded with community members to be patient with health workers in the institution, and allow nurses to give priority to more critical patients on the queue.

The hospital board chairperson mentioned that the ambulance that was donated by Kumba mine to the hospital was never handed over to the hospital, and the board was left in the dark as to what had happened to the ambulance, which would have assisted the community. Due to staff shortages, patients who are due for transfer to Kimberley Hospital in the afternoon often have to wait for the nurses due for the evening shift as it takes two hours to travel to Kimberley.

Department of Health

A representative from the provincial Department of Health, Mr Scholtz, pledged the department’s support of the campaign, adding that without the nurses and doctors there won’t be a Department of Health. The department has established a task team to assist DENOSA and SAMA to bring into reality the goals of the campaign in various institutions in the province.

Tribal office

A representative from the Bathlaros Tribal Office commended DENOSA and SAMA for including the community in the campaign, and urged that the campaign should not only be a lip service as it is often the case. The leader said it’s time that the ideas of the campaign get breitling replica watches implemented on the ground for better care of the community.

Local councillor

The local ward councillor in Bathlaros pledged to support the campaign on the pillar of respect for the profession, making use of the Integrated Development Plans (IDPs) consultation processes. The councillor said they will go out to communities and embark on an education campaign about the challenges in health facilities which affect health workers negatively, as there are no sufficient resources.

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MEDIA COVERAGE OF THE LAUNCH

Leading up to the launch in the province, the following media covered the PPE campaign: