Health
With regard to the powers and functions of hospital boards and clinic and community health centre committees:
(1) Whether any committees and/or boards have taken any measures to improve the quality of service at their respective facilities in (a) 2019/20 and (b) 2020/21 to date; if not, why not; if so, what are the relevant details;
(2) whether any committees and/or boards conducted scheduled visits at their respective facilities in (a) 2019/20 and (b) 2020/21 to date; if not, why not; if so, (i) what are the relevant details and (ii) what were the recommendations forwarded after each visit;
(3) whether all the facilities in the province have functional committees and/or boards; if not, why not; if so, what are the relevant details?
1. Hospital boards and clinic committees implement various measures and projects to improve the experience of patients and staff. Often boards are involved in planning staff wellness projects and end of year functions to keep staff motivated and acknowledge their efforts. These bodies is to monitor compliments and complaints to ensure they are dealt with timeously and satisfactory. These bodies support construction and upgrade projects, such as: For example :
- the Mosselbay board monitoring clinics which were upgraded – Alma, D’Almeida, Asla & Groot Brak.
- Lilitha House project Knysna hospital 2020.
- recent camera installations at Robertson in 2019.
- Ward B upgrade at Montagu in 2019.
They also receive donations for these upgrades and for projects. They also contribute towards these projects from their own fund. Such as Tygerberg which in 2019 completed the upgrade of the 2nd floor of Protea Court on the hospital premises. The upgrade was to provide accommodation to mothers having to stay in hospital with babies as well relatives of patients from far out of town. The floor was also upgraded for the use as a theory unit for victims of violence and trauma. The project was funded by donors and the facility board.
Furthermore, boards also do fundraise for the above-mentioned projects and upgrades/maintenance of small upgrade projects such as installation of TVs and furniture.Statutory bodies monitor quality of care provided at their respective facilities.
2. Committees and boards make regular scheduled visits at their respective facilities. It is part of their function as a statutory body. Some schedule visits separately from the meeting dates. Often, boards, such as Worcester, conduct visits on the day of the board meetings when everyone is already gathered. Some boards and committees schedule them at set intervals such as every two months. Tygerberg uses this format. Observed points of interest are discussed at the board/clinic meetings and other meetings are usually conducted with the facility manager or CEO.
3. Not all boards and committees in the province are functional. One of the major stumbling blocks to their functionality is the lack of community member interest to serve on these bodies and also the desire of community members to be remunerated for being on said bodies. Furthermore, even when community members are appointed, attendance is an issue. Often meeting quorum cannot be met due to the lack of sufficient committee/board members at the meeting. The Minister is consistently raising the importance of communities participating on statutory structures during her local facility and community visits.
