MyPE

Community Business Directory, Event Listings, News and Views from Gqeberha, Nelson Mandela Bay

Fire HOD Mbengashe

By

The DA presents their 5 point plan for the Eastern Cape Health Department to fight the spread of CCOVID-19

https://youtu.be/eCRXv-syArU

Hear what the DA have to say about the spending of money on temporary hospitals and more…

During the press conference Jane Cowley, the Eastern Cape Shadow MEC for Health said that HOD Dr Mbengashe should be fired before he runs Eastern Cape Health into the ground:

Every day that the Eastern Cape Health Department’s Head of Department, Dr. Thobile Mbengashe, remains in charge, is another day closer to the total collapse of public health in the province.

Dr. Mbengashe has presided over the rampant increase in medico-legal claims against the Department, which are now at R30 billion – R4 billion more than the annual budget for the department. He has failed to fill vacant funded posts, which exceeded 6 500 as at the end of the last financial year, resulting in a public service unable to care for its people.

Most notably, however, is the Dr. Mbengashe has been responsible for the disastrous provincial response to the Covid-19 pandemic, which after two months of lockdown, is still nowhere near having the extra beds, Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) or human resources to deal with the crisis.

The latest in a long line of fiascos under the HOD’s leadership is the call by the Department of Labour to shut down the Frere Hospital in Buffalo City Metro, due to non-compliance with Health and Safety Regulations.

In simple terms, government is saying its own facilities, which are meant to help people in their time of need, are in such a shocking state they need to be shut down.

Instead of taking steps to immediately rectify the issues identified by Labour, Dr. Mbengashe has decided to go to court, arguing that the people’s right to healthcare supersedes their right to safety. Dr. Mbengashe is clearly losing the plot. This is not an either/or situation, both are fundamental rights.

Sadly, this is just one in a long list of failures on the part of the Health Department and highlights the rampant incompetence of its leadership.

Some other equally damning failures pertaining to the Covid-19 pandemic are:

  • Inadequate training of healthcare workers, which has undermined the Covid-19 response on many levels.
  • Disastrous management of PPE procurement, supply, and stock, while departmental officials try to force suppliers to work through local companies for self-enrichment.
  • A backlog of 21,904 pending tests for the province, as of Thursday last week.
  • No daily statistics at a sub-district, municipal or ward level to better inform the response on the ground.
  • No targeted strategy which seeks to put out the transmission bushfires before they become raging infernos, such as predicted by the CSIR.

The Democratic Alliance believes that there are enough competent and hardworking healthcare workers in the province to turn around the public healthcare system, but this will require strong, honest, and passionate leadership to guide them.

The following five-point plan needs to be implemented as a matter of urgency:

  1. Ramp up screening and testing by using a targeted approach in all hotspot areas
  2. Enforce quarantine of all PUI’s while awaiting test results to prevent cluster and local transmission
  3. Ensure that all vacant funded posts are filled immediately
  4. Double the number of personnel in the provincial laboratories which are currently analysing tests to speed up results
  5. Communicate the respective R number per sub-district, which is the effective reproduction number of the virus, and then do everything possible to bring it below 1. This will ultimately see the infection figures dwindle.

I will be tabling a Motion in the Legislature Sitting tomorrow (Tuesday 26 May 2020) to urge the Premier to remove the MEC from her position and replace her with somebody who has the requisite capacity and skillset for the job.

The response to the Covid-19 pandemic requires authentic, skilled leadership and this will remain a pipe dream while MEC Gomba and her HOD, Dr. Mbengashe, are at the helm. It is time for the premier to decide if he is going to put the people of the province first or his political deployees.

The following two tabs change content below.
My Twitter profileMy Facebook profileMy Google+ profileMy LinkedIn profileMy Flickr profileMy Pinterest profile

Alan Straton

Chief Cook, Bottle Washer and Broom Mechanic at MyPE
Passionate about Port Elizabeth and definitely NOT packing for Perth. Alan's ethos is epitomised in the words of Nelson Mandela; "I have fought against white domination and I have fought against black domination. I have cherished the idea of a democratic and free society. If need be, it is an ideal for which I am prepared to die." See more articles by Alan.