New coat for local day hospital
2011-07-28
Lise Beyers
THE new section of the TC Newman Day Hospital in Paarl East should be completed by October. This was the good news this week from the Department of Health on this R27 million project. These additions to the existing structure include a new, spacious main entrance and pharmacy, an infection clinic which treats diseases such as TB and HIV/Aids related illnesses, as well as new consulting rooms. Spokesperson for the Department of Health, Jo-Anne Otto, said that a key factor of this development is to create a warm and friendly environment in which to serve the community effectively. “TC Newman plays an integral role in the community. About 10 000 people are treated here each month and we want to make this experience as pleasant as possible for them. “We strive to improve value and service delivery and in doing so we are eliminating slow service delivery. We want to satisfy the need of the patient as quickly and effectively as possible.” The larger waiting rooms and patient sorting area will assist in patients being quickly treated and is a great asset to this day clinic to be. The core aims are to speed patients to their destinations. A new system has been implemented here where patients are shown to various windows, which are indicated by certain colours based on the last three numbers on their clinic cards. Otto said that currently patients are still unsure how the procedure works. “On arrival at the clinic, groups of ten patients are escorted to the sorting-out counter. Here they are shown to the appropriate window where they will be issued with their medical records and pointed to the correct clinic. This procedure cuts out long queues and speeds up the entire system. “We would like to ask the public not to come to the hospital too early. If an appointment is at for example 09:00, they only need to be here by 08:45.” According to Otto, the new section of TC Newman Hospital is scheduled to be officially opened in October. Hereafter work will be continuing in the old section of the hospital to renovate the building in its entirety. The operations manager of the hospital, Peace Carollissen, who has been working there for almost 25 years, said that it was a pleasure for her to be involved at TC Newman. “The new system which has come with the construction is patient friendly. I can already see that our service delivery has improved. It is also a pleasure to work in our bright new surroundings.”
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