Gauteng health and social development minister Qedani Mahlangu expressed disappointment on Thursday about glitches experienced by the sector in implementing the new drug-supply management system.
”We unreservedly apologise to members of our community who, due to weaknesses in our systems, were inconvenienced as a result of us not providing services they should have received,” Mahlangu said in a statement.
According to provincial health spokesperson JP Louw, there were problems in the execution of and training of staff in operating the Oracle upgrade system at the medical supplies depot.
This had led to two- or three-day delays in delivering orders to hospitals, and not ”huge backlogs” as indicated by Democratic Alliance health spokesperson Jack Bloom, Louw said on Monday.
Gauteng was the first province to implement the system, which went on line on April 1.
The system was being rolled out in five provinces.
Another area of concern was the cancellation of deliveries of the Nestlé infant formula to health facilities due to delays in payments, Louw said, adding that Mahlangu was briefed about the issue.
”Commitments were made to her that all outstanding matters will be resolved by the end of business on Thursday after meetings with Nestlé,” he said.
After paying a visit to the medical depot in Auckland Park, Mahlangu said she was encouraged by the staff’s willingness to work overtime to get a speedy solution.
However, she insisted that all technical glitches should be sorted out by the end of Friday next week. Failure to comply would result in a review of the contract.
”This should be the message to any service provider contracted to government. Delivery of service must be efficiently and effectively done, as it ultimately has a direct impact on our people,” she said. — Sapa