Top Livingstone jobs to be advertised

● New turnaround unit has formidable to-do list

One of the first interventions to be put in place by the province’s new Covid-19 project management unit will be to advertise for new management for Livingstone hospital.

That was the word from Eastern Cape health MEC Sindiswa Gomba during a virtual meeting called to brief Nelson Mandela Bay Covid-19 response teams and other officials about the new unit.

Livingstone Hospital’s permanent management team was suspended in November 2018 after a strike by Nehawu members, who demanded its departure. The top managers were never replaced and the hospital — which is at the forefront of the Bay’s fight against the pandemic — has been led by numerous acting CEOs in the interim.

Last week, provincial leader Oscar Mabuyane announced that a team of experts had been deployed to the Eastern Cape to address a number of pressing challenges in the province, including service delivery issues, clinical problems at some hospitals and infrastructure constraints.

Mabuyane said health minister Zweli Mkhize had deployed the experts after he had asked for help in fighting the

Covid-19 pandemic. The experts found a multitude of problems and suggested a project management unit be established.

The unit was set up and is led by Mkhize’s special adviser on the NHI, Dr Sibongile Zungu.

It also includes financial turnaround specialist Dr Monde Tom and human resources expert Laurence van Zuydam.

After Mabuyane announced that the unit had been set up, there was considerable speculation on social media that the provincial health department had been placed under administration, which Mkhize’s spokesperson, Popo Maja, denied yesterday. Maja said the experts were deployed to provide essential advice to Gomba and the department to streamline clinical and procurement processes.

“Similar technical advice has been rendered to the [Western Cape] to help deal with the Covid-19 pandemic,” Maja said.

He said Zungu, Tom and Van Zuydam were specifically selected for their expertise in clinical, financial and human resources support.

“The plan is to have a quick turnaround in testing and clinical management of cases [and] a quick turnaround time in all areas of the response to the pandemic,” Maja said.

Maja said the national ministry of health acknowledged that Covid-19 had caused strain in health-care services across the country and the unit would help in addressing issues in specific areas.

“Where the spread of infection is not severe, resources will be shifted to provide support to hot spots,” Maja said.

During yesterday’s briefing, Gomba raised the ire of some of the participants when she provided scant information on the specifics of the work the unit would undertake.

Bay councillor Marlon Daniels asked why a meeting had been called when no new information was available.

“You are wasting my time,” he said.

MPL Theo Coetzee said: “There is nothing different from what we have already heard — [we need] clarity of what specifically is happening.”

Gomba simply provided the names of the unit’s members and reiterated what Mabuyane’s spokesperson, Mvusi Sicwetsha, had announced on Friday

Sicwetsha said in a statement at the time that Zungu’s responsibilities would include leading the rapid response team co-ordination while focusing on the operational needs of regional co-ordination to suppress and contain the spread of Covid-19. Zungu would work closely with the tracking, tracing and testing teams as well as hospital support teams.

“Dr Zungu will provide technical and clinical support for case management of hospitalised patients, including the availability of oxygen, clinical protocols for patient management and rational use of ICU beds,” Sicwetsha said.

Tom is expected to design and drive an integrated organisation-wide intelligence and information system that supports the decision-making process, resource allocation, operational efficiency, effective interventions and impact of the health systems. “He will work closely with the business continuity team and regional co-ordinators to build systems of shared service with a strong digital transformation agenda to streamline all workflows, embedded in AI systems and decision-making support capability,” Sicwetsha said.

Van Zuydam, who is head of transversal human resource management in Mabuyane’s office, will focus on redesigning the organisational structure, functions and critical processes of the department of health to create a central governance structure designed for rapid decision-making.