Mid Term Report - Gauteng Online

••••••••••••••styles among all Gauteng residents so that theycan lead productive livesPrevention and treatment programmes to actagainst the causes of ill health and death suchas violence, road accidents, stress, HIV andAids, poor lifestyles and alcohol abuseProviding caring, responsive and quality healthservice through:reducing waiting timesimproving frontline serviceinvesting in our health care professionals andworkersrevitalizing health infrastructureempowering our communities with health informationand educationConsolidating primary health care services todeal with common conditions, build communityparticipation and enable inter-sectoral collaborationContinuing to implement a comprehensive HIVand AIDS programme including:ongoing prevention to reduce new infectionsespecially among youthimplementing comprehensive HIV and AIDS careand treatment including anti-retroviral therapydeveloping community capacity for preventionand care through partnerships with civil societyand the private sectoraddressing psycho-social and economic factorswhich drive HIV infection and increase theimpact of AIDScoordinating all efforts across government andcivil society for maximum impact.The following section outlines some of the key areasof progress.Human resourcesThe retention and recruitment of health professionalshas been one of the greatest challenges in providingquality care. A strategy to address this has beenimplemented, including:• upgrading the posts of health professionals suchas professional nurses, nurse educators, primaryhealth nurses, medical and dental practitioners• improving working conditions by providinghealth professionals with state-of the art tools ofthe trade• increasing the number of bursaries awardedto 1800 for critical scarce skills with contractobligations• providing scarce skills for designated healthprofessionals such as doctors, specialist nursesand others• expansion of the Employee Assistance Programme• increasing training at all levels – since2004/05, 2971 new nurses were admitted fordiploma courses, 10 888 nurses attended trainingand 3688 nurses graduated.Despite a high attrition rate, 5 864 health professionalswere employed since 2004/2005 with significantgains in medical staff.Important inroads have been made in successfullyimplementing learnerships and internships since2004/5, benefitting 7 497 people and exceedingthe target of 5 100 by 2009.Since the inception of the Community Health WorkerProgramme in 2004, 2 116 CHWs completed training.As part of the EPWP, further CHWs are beingtrained to exceed a target of 3 000 by April 2007.Training includes comprehensive HIV and TB clinicalmanagement and care.Hours of serviceResidents in many areas have appealed to theprovincial government to extend hours of service athealth care facilities, particularly clinics, to enablethem to better access services. Significant progresshas been made, with 77% of sub-districts now havingextended hours of service to improve accessibilityand to offer after-hour and emergency servicesto communities. In addition, family physicians havebeen appointed at district level and started work on1 June 2006.Improving health care facilitiesInvestment in health infrastructure has focused onupgrading existing facilities and the construction ofnew hospitals, community health centres and clinics.Progress since 2004 includes:Midterm Report - 2004/06 • 41