BY
HON NJ NKWANYANA MPL, KZN LEGISLATURE
Somlomo,
Ngithi angibonge kuMhlonishwa uDinangwe ngokuthi ahambele esibhedlela saseMsinga lapho efice khona iziguli zilele emabhentshini futhi nesimo senhlanzeko singesihle kahle. Lokhuke kuchaza umnyango awuzi kahle ukuthi kwenzekani ezibhedlela. Iqembu leNkatha lithi izinkampani ezinikezwe umsebenzi wokuhlanza izibhedlela azilandelelwe ukuthi umsebenzi ziwenza ngendlela efanele yini. Uma zehluleka ukwenza umsebenzi azixoshwe kufakwe ezinye izinkampani ezizimisele ngokugcina izibhedlela zihlanzekile. Sithi akusungulwe ithimba labahloli-zibhedlela elizimele elisezingeni eliphezulu elizobhekana nomsebenzi wokubheka izimo zenhlanzeko ezibhedlela. Dinangwe ngizoqhubeka ngikwelekelele ekutheni ngihambele izibhedlela ngokuthi ngigasele kungazelele muntu ukuze ngibone ukuthi manyala mani enzeka ezibhedlela athunaza isithunzi sakho nesomnyango owuphethe. Ngaphezu kwalokho namanje ngisacosha imiyalezo evela kumalungu omphakathi akhala ngesibhedlela saseRK Khan ngokuthi singcolile. Mhlonishwa Dinangwe ake kugaselwe kungazelelwe muntu kulesibhedlela kanye nezinye. Ngiyathanda Dinangwe ukukuxwayisa ukuthi ake ube mehlomane njengonwabu ekutheni ubhekisise kabanzi lonke ithimba osebenza nalo ukuthi ngabe lona alikuhlinzeli yini ezibini ukuze ubukeke njengesehluleki sikaNgqongqoshe esihlulwa ukuphatha umnyango wezempilo.
Sicela ukwazi ukuthi iCFO iqashwa nini ngoba kade sasilukhuluma loludaba kodwa umnyango awusigqizi qakala. Ubani lona olindiwe uKhongolose ofuna ukumfaka kulesikhundla? Ukungahambi kahle kwezinto ezibhedlela zesifundazwe kwenza iqembu leNkatha likholwe ukuthi abantu bafakwa ezikhundleni ngokobuqembu ikakhulukazi abaphathi bezibhedlela. If we do not take the appointment of vital positions seriously we simply do not take the quality of health care seriously. And we will simply continue wasting valuable taxpayers’ money through continued inefficiencies and incompetence.
We must confront the hard truth about our public health care system if we want to ensure the welfare and the Constitutional rights of all people. By only examining the ailments of our health care sector and successfully diagnosing the problem, we will find the remedies that will heal it.
Hospitals and clinics must become safe environments for patients, health care workers as well as the general public. Far too often we hear of staff as well as patients being assaulted at hospitals. There have been many cases of suicides that have occurred at health care facilities. Reports of medical supplies going missing have also been reported during our oversight visits. It is therefore imperative that security at health care facilities are tightened up.
Health service must be quickly delivered so that people can move on to other commitments. We should not allow poor service delivery to be the acceptable benchmark in KZN. Professional health provision ought to be second to none.
One of the many challenges facing our health care system is a lack of qualified doctors, nurses and competent administrative staff, which has led to the unresponsive and cumbersome bureaucracy in the health sector; lack of accountability; and good decision making. This is a tragedy and it is unnecessary.
The IFP believes passionately in this right that all South Africans no matter how poor should have access to health care. However, having a constitution stating this right is not good enough in itself. We need to deliver on this right.
Kuliqiniso elingephikwe ukuthi abantu abaningi bayaluthola usizo lwezempilo, kodwa inkinga ukuthi abazitholi ezempilo ezisezingeni elifanele. And despite the hard work of many nurses and doctors in our public health system our public health care is in need of fundamental emergency attention if we are ever to provide quality health care.
Mhlonishwa Dinangwe iqembu leNkatha linxusa ukuthi kuqinisekiswe ukuthi izinkinga ezibhekene nabasebenzi basemakhazeni ziyaxazululeka. Kufanele engabe kumanje kunezinhlelo zokuqoqela ndawonye izikhalo zabasebenzi basemakhazeni ukugwema isimo sokuqubuka kweziteleka emakhazeni abasebenzi bekhala ngezinto ezingenziwe umnyango nokugcina sekuphazamisa imindeni eshonelwe ekutheni ingakwazi ukungcwaba. Akungalindwa ukuthi kuze kutelekwe ngaphambi kokuthi kuxazululwe izinkinga ezithinta umnyango wezempilo. Lokhu kuhlanganisa nezinkinga ezikhungethe abasebenzi bezimo eziphuthumayo ukuthi nabo izinkinga zabo azibheke kusenesikhathi ukugwema iziteleka ezingenasidingo.
Ungqongqoshe akaqinisekise ukuthi iyakhiwa imitholampilo ezindaweni lapho ingekho khona abantu bayeke ukuhamba amabanga amade beya ezibhedlela. Akuqikelelwe ukuthi uma umphakathi ubize izimoto zezimo eziphuthumayo azisheshe ukufika ngoba kunesikhalo sokuthi azisheshi ukufika nokwenza abantu bagcine sebeziqashela bona izimoto ukuze zibaphuthumise esibhedlela. Ake ngibuze kuDinangwe ukuthi kwakhala nyonini ngomtholampilo wakwaMambulu?
IFP is raising these issues because quality health care should not be only heard, our people in clinics and hospitals should experience it. The horror stories in these institutions should be a thing of the past. Health care is not experienced at provincial level and through health policies but at hospitals and clinics.
Another matter which had been observed which hampers service delivery in the health sector, is the shortages of medical supplies. Under these circumstances, anything can happen to the health of patients. Furthermore, overcrowding at the hospitals pharmacies and at general entry points do not bode well for the health sector and long-term solutions must be found.
We constantly read reports of hospital staff, from administration to nurses and doctors who mistreat patients or are indifferent to people’s needs.
We are concerned about the shortage of medical staff in our healthcare facilities. The inadequate number of health care workers has a direct impact on the quality of patient management.
We cannot even begin to deal with issues of HIV and Aids, TB and incidents of maternal and child mortality if the basics of health care are not in place. As much as we need to see action being taken on these issues, the basic structures of health care need to be dealt with as well. Our rural areas are the worst affected and yet nothing seems to have changed over the years. The department needs to make drastic improvements in providing health care or else our people will never know what is like to receive proper basic health care.
If we continue on this path, the implementation of the much-talked about National Health Insurance will continue to evade us.
The IFP is of the view that one of the main problems is that many nurses lack public relations skills. They embarrass patients in public and also reveal personal information about patients. Some nurses are so arrogant because they know that patients are at their mercy and so they treat them badly. Nurses are supposed to feel for patients and empathise with them, but that is not the case. When you visit the clinic or the hospital you spend almost the whole day in a queue waiting to receive attention while the nurses loiter around and with no sense of urgency.
It is not fair to paint all nurses with the same brush, as some really try their best to care for patients. But as professionals they should conduct themselves as such and display good public relations skills. We condemn rude and uncaring behaviour by the nurses at hospitals and clinics as this is a violation of patient’s rights.
The IFP supports this budget.
I thank you
