Cape Town - A list of 11 “strategic risks” flagged by the department of health and wellness in its annual report, came under the Standing Committee on Public Accounts (Scopa) microscope with committee members wanting to have more details than the department had provided in the report.
Three of the highest of the risks flagged by the department that caught the eye of committee members were: High Staff Burn-out; High Disease Outbreak and one listed plainly as: “Medico legal.”
Committee member Melikhaya Xego (EFF) said it was all very well listing the risks and classifying them as low, moderate and high, but he wanted to know what interventions the department had taken to mitigate the risks.
Asking for clarification Xego said: “These should not just be lists. In particular I want to know what has been done about staff burnout. Without staff, there is no department.”
Head of health Dr Keith Cloete said they took the issue of staff burnout extremely seriously and because the risks of burnout and issues with medico legal scrutiny were high, a senior management team which meets monthly had been assembled to consider the risk issues.
Cloete said they had approached the department of the premier for assistance with the transversal tender the province had put out as it did not meet the department’s specific needs and that matter was being dealt with.
ANC MPL Nomi Nkondlo said she wanted to understand exactly how big the risks classified as moderate were. She was particularly interested in one listed as fragmented primary healthcare (PHC) services in the City.
Nkondlo wanted to know how many of the PHC services remained in the City and when they would be integrated into the province.
Cloete said that in July, 10 City clinics in Cape Town’s northern Tygerberg, Klipfontein, and Khayelitsha areas were integrated into the provincial health service and had been operating smoothly
He said the next step would be to get the remaining facilities under the City to move over to the province and that negotiations were under way.