Critics raise alarm over leadership issues at Gauteng health department
Several opposition politicians and commentators have flagged what appears to be chronic leadership problems at the Gauteng Department of Health. Ufrieda Ho reports.
#Vote4Health | Several political parties dodge questions on how they plan to improve health in Gauteng
What is at stake in South Africa’s upcoming provincial elections when it comes to healthcare? Ufrieda Ho put questions to five political parties about their plans to get Gauteng Health on track to better healthcare services after the polls. Only two parties responded .
Healthcare problems persist at ‘ideal clinics’, studies show
The ideal clinic programme has been one of government’s key healthcare interventions in recent years. An extensive review conducted of the initiative in Gauteng suggests that outcomes are mixed. Elri Voigt reports on findings from four studies on the programme presented at last week’s Public Health Association of South Africa conference in Durban.
EDITORIAL: Government claims to value healthcare workers, its actions suggest it does not
The headline-making persecution of paediatrician Dr Tim de Maayer is part of a wider trend whereby principled public sector healthcare workers are often abandoned to the whims of managers who are vindictive, incompetent, or both. Add the slow movement on South Africa’s healthcare worker policy, the poor management of the Health Professions Council, and the short shrift given to healthcare workers’ concerns about National Health Insurance, and the picture that emerges makes a mockery of government’s talk of valuing healthcare workers.
Open letter: Dear Minister Phaahla, the ‘medical tourist mom’ is little more than a convenient myth.
Health Minister Dr Joe Phaahla recently announced in Parliament that his department will conduct a study on the treatment of foreign nationals at public health facilities in South Africa. Phaahla singled out foreign nationals (pregnant women) seeking maternity services as the major concern, but the idea of the medical tourist mom is a myth, writes Kholofelo Mphahlele in this open letter.
Opinion: Gauteng health in flames – making it through the fires and fumbles of SA’s richest province
Gauteng is a province of immense potential and tragic recent history. It is a province that has allowed politics to overwhelm the interests of patients, argues Sasha Stevenson in a talk delivered as part of a lecture series hosted by the Steve Biko Centre for Bioethics at Wits University.
Modest improvement at dysfunctional Gauteng clinics, report finds
Although a new community healthcare monitoring report notes some improvement in filling vacancies at Gauteng clinics, concerns remain over staff shortages and the impact this has on providing quality care, especially to people living with HIV. Thabo Molelekwa reports.
In-depth: Millions spent on security at Gauteng health facilities but concerns remain
The Gauteng Department of Health annually spends millions on security at its health facilities based on contracts that expired in 2016 and that since have been extended from month to month. Yet, theft, vandalism, and reports of healthcare workers who work in fear at some health facilities continue. Despite this, the department insists that spending on security is not wasteful and “the business case for security remains robust”. Thabo Molelekwa and Alicestine October reports.
In-depth: What is behind the massive cataract surgery backlogs in Gauteng?
As World Sight Day approaches on 14 October, Gauteng faces the damning reality that thousands of cataract patients are waiting up to two years to receive the simple life-changing surgery. Ufrieda Ho reports.
Opinion: Our data shows where Gauteng clinics are failing, government must help fix it
Too many clinics are in crisis and it is driving the continuing HIV epidemic. People are dying because of it, argue members of the Ritshidze Project as they launch a report into the state of public sector facilities in Gauteng.
What it’s like: Being a cleaner at the Charlotte Maxeke casualty ward
As a cleaner at the emergency casualty ward at Charlotte Maxeke Academic Hospital in Johannesburg, Sakhile Masombuka has seen a lot of blood and suffering. He chatted to Spotlight about his work.
