Almost 10 years ago, Eben Donges Hospital in Worcester acknowledged a looming nursing crisis and established a groundbreaking learnership programme that has uplifted the community and averted massive nursing vacancies. ”We realised that our staff must be our most important asset and that we would need to invest in their training and development if we wanted to retain our current staff and attract new members,” said former nurse Liesl Strauss.
Kimberley has one of the best doctor-patient ratios in the country but, a few kilometres away, Warrenton Hospital battles to attract a single doctor. To listen to Sister Gail Davids is to understand why so many of our nurses hotfoot it out of the public health system. At Warrenton, a normal weekend sounds as if it were a television script.
Firestone specialist Tiger Woods took charge in the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational second round on Friday, despite running up a remarkable bogey-five on his final hole. Woods, champion here four times in his last seven starts, struck the clubhouse roof with his approach to the par-four ninth and was fortunate to get a free drop before completing a six-under-par 64.
Hundreds of Sevilla supporters danced, sounded car-horns and set off firecrackers into the early hours of Saturday morning to celebrate their team’s European Super Cup victory over the continent’s champion FC Barcelona, news reports said.
A Parow couple who allegedly locked their pit bull terrier bitch in a wooden kennel, then set the kennel alight, appeared in the Bellville Regional Court on Friday charged with cruelty to animals. They face two charges — allegedly setting the dog, named Tammy, alight, and the deliberate or negligent failure to take the severely burnt dog to a veterinary surgeon afterwards.
Revelations that umpire Darrell Hair asked cricket’s governing body the International Cricket Council (ICC) for a 000 pay-off to defuse the ball-tampering row with Pakistan dominated Britain’s newspapers on Saturday. Copies of the e-mails in which Hair made the request to the ICC’s umpires and referees manager, Doug Cowie, were reprinted while ex-pros and pundits gave their views.
The Bush administration has indicated it is prepared to form an independent coalition to freeze Iranian assets and restrict trade if the United Nations Security Council fails to penalise Tehran for its nuclear enrichment programme, The Los Angeles Times reported on Saturday.
North West’s beleagured agricultural department has spent almost R2-million this year on the salaries of at least five officials who are sitting at home on suspension. Four agriculture department officials have been suspended on allegations of corruption, fraud and maladministration following a forensic audit last year.
The 550-bed Kimberley general hospital has won a number of awards for management and innovation, and is considered a case study in transformation. In the past six years, it has expanded from employing 38 fulltime doctors to 115, plus 40 community service doctors and 30 interns.
On the day we visited Bongani Hospital in Welkom, Free State, the CEO was frantically trying to decide what to do with a R12million winning Lotto ticket after the owner had just died in the hospital. Alida Zwiegelaar was very proud that her staff had been honest enough to hand over the ticket, particularly as the owner had not signed it.