Xamlashe soars up as medical services head
Passion for rural healthcare driving force
FROM wanting to be a fighter jet pilot in the British Army, Dr Mthandeki Xamlashe gave up wings for a scalpel and is now the new head of medical services in the Eastern Cape department of health.
Born in the 1960s in Ngcobo to a teacher and a housewife, Xamlashe planned on joining the army but in 1982 a war broke out between Britain and Argentina and his mother begged him not to go.
“She thought she was going to lose her son and persuaded me to stay,” Xamlashe said.
“I then opted to pursue medicine because it was my second career choice.
“I had a bursary and I studied at the University of Natal. I did my internship at Cecilia Makiwane Hospital which was sought-after by many aspirant doctors,” Xamlashe said.
His career took him to several rural hospitals including All Saints Hospital in Ngcobo and Cofimvaba Hospital.
“I have a passion healthcare.
“As a young doctor, it helped that the communities I worked in were receptive to and protective for rural of health professionals,” he said.
He was part of the team that spearheaded the province’s tuberculosis (TB) turnaround programme, where they increased the cure rate from 38% to 78%.
Having spent time working on intensifying public TB awareness and transferring the ownership of TB hospitals from the South African National Tuberculosis Association (Santa) to government, Xamlashe joined the Nelson Mandela Academic Hospital in Mthatha in 2007 as its CEO.
There the focus was on upgrading the specialist services.
In 2012, he moved to Cecilia Makiwane Hospital (CMH) in Mdantsane as CEO.
“CMH was the little brother or sister of Frere Hospital.
“It was the epicentre of union activity and all they needed was leadership.
“I had to inspire a journey of transformation of excellence to a centre with a team that was strongly supported by unions.”
Xamlashe said he made everyone at CMH feel like they were part of the team.
“Laundry workers had to understand that they were doing more than just washing linen; their work was essential to effective services,” he said.
At the beginning of this year, Xamlashe joined the department of health.
His role is to improve the systems used by doctors, both in the private and public sector.
“To achieve quality healthcare, there must be direct support to health professionals.
“Mine is to ensure that not only do doctors comply with statutes and the Health Professions Council of SA, but that there is continuous training and knowledge dissemination.
“My hope is to improve public confidence in the Eastern Cape health system,” he said.
Xamlashe said in his new position he would be interacting with the private sector as well.
“I am all about forward innovation for better clinical outcomes,” he said. —