Where were you based before, and what did your previous job entail? I was based in Port Elizabeth. Two noteworthy previous positions I held were Senior Clinical Manager: Nelson Mandela Bay Health District and Programme Coordinator at the Nelson Mandela University Medical School.
Tell us a little bit about your background and why you chose the medical field? I have always had a passion for caring for people. But I am also a systems thinker, with a love for ethics, mathematics, economics and accounting. Therefore, I have always been drawn to administration, management and leadership roles.
What will your responsibilities as the new Medical Manager be? I am responsible for the provision of strategic leadership to such divisions as primary health care delivered through clinics, health-care programmes and partners such as NPOs.District hospital clinical care comprises nursing services, doctor services and allied health-care workers, such as physiotherapists and social workers.Then there’s the financial and supply-chain management of the Overstrand Sub-District Health-care Department. Also, maintenance of all infrastructure, both facility and equipment, of the department. There’s also people management of the department.
What do you believe is key to good service delivery in the public health sector? Staff attitude. It is a fact that in healthcare there are always resource constraints, whether it is money, staff or time. This is a worldwide phenomenon and it is the same in wealthy developed countries. On the other hand, the demand on the public sector is constantly growing and this growth is not necessarily linear. I have a keen interest in the topic of distributive justice, and I believe that the simple answer is that we are sometimes unable to meet all the needs of our patients, but this does not mean that we do not deliver high-quality care, it only means that we cannot meet all the different needs that patients might have. The answer to the high quality of care lies in our attitude towards the patients, our fellow health-care workers and towards the situation. A choice to be grateful, to be kind, to be caring, to listen actively and to communicate well, can be the difference between a patient who felt safe and cared for and a patient who still has the anxiety with which she or he came . . . or even more anxiety. This then is the goal of our work: To relieve patients’ anxiety by listening to them and providing the best care we can.
What are some of the challenges in this sector and how would you go about addressing these problems? As mentioned above our main challenges are resource constraints and growing demands. One of the effects of these factors can be a decrease in staff morale. They say: “Culture eats strategy for breakfast” and I believe that the secret lies in creating the right culture in your organisation. Our goal is to create a culture of care. Very important is: caring for the carer, as I believe that if the carer feels at peace, safe and happy, this will flow over into the patient care. Our values are: Be thankful. Be respectful. Be kind. Be generous. Our culture is to care for each other. I believe that this culture will lead to an increase in staff morale and therefore to an improvement in patient care.
What are some of the goals you have set for yourself in your new post? Creation of a culture of care. Implementing a plan-based approach to management. What this means is that we are creating an operational plan that will be simple, specific, and focused. Implementation of the management tactic of decentralised decision making and empowerment. In conclusion, I have found an exceptional family in the Overstrand Sub-District Department of Health’s staff and the patients we care for. I believe we all form one family that works together towards health in our community.