Where were you based before and what did your previous job entail? My most recent position was an exciting opportunity to lead the medical department of an international oil and gas company operating in West Africa. The job demanded a wide spectrum of services from Primary and Emergency Care with international medical evacuations, Occupational Health, Industrial Hygiene, Managed care and Corporate Social Responsibility Projects. Prior to that I was a public health registrar with the Western Cape Government Health Department.
Tell us a little bit about your background and why you chose the medical field? I am originally from KZN and always knew I would want to live and work in the Western Cape after our first holiday to Cape Town, when I was a teenager. I chose medicine for the perceived job security, but stayed because it has been the greatest privilege to practice as a clinician and connect with my skill set and my humanity to serve others.
What will your responsibilities as the new medical manager be? My overall responsibility is to lead and inspire an amazing bunch of hardworking health workers to provide the best care they can for the communities in which we live and work.
What do you believe is key to good service delivery in the public-health sector? Key drivers for improved service delivery include clear aspirational strategy, strong self-aware leadership, ethical and values-driven organizational culture and passion for continuous improvement, all rooted firmly in patient-centredness in healthcare or person-centredness in the context or other public sector spheres. It is also important that we really listen to the needs of the community we serve and that we remember we are here to serve them to the best of our ability.
What are some of the challenges in this sector and how would you go about addressing these problems? The ever present challenge in the public sector is having to do more with less, especially considering the macro-economic stagnancy in the country over the past decade and the fallout of the pandemic in recent times. To overcome this I will try to tap into the residual resilience that public sector health workers have shown over the last two decades, facing the implementation of the world’s largest antiretroviral therapy campaign and facing daily the tsunami of disease burden that presents at clinics and hospital across the province. The resilience and elastic capacity of health workers to thrive under difficult situations is truly inspiring and should be celebrated, not just during the first months of the global pandemic, but daily.
What are some of the goals you have set out for yourself in your new post? I truly want to see what is possible within a limited geographic setting, in my case Theewaterskloof, to improve the lives, livelihoods and well-being of the people therein by optimizing the operations within the health system, but moreover linking with all social partners, governmental, civil society and business to create the society we all need to thrive.
