Source SAnew.gov.za 20 November 2014
Cabinet has welcomed the launch of Operation Phakisa 2 which aims to transform all public sector clinics into “ideal clinics” that will provide good quality care to all communities.
President Jacob Zuma launched Operation Phakisa 2: Scaling up Ideal Clinic Realisation and Maintenance Programme on Tuesday.
Speaking at a post-Cabinet briefing in Cape Town on Thursday, Minister in the Presidency responsible for Planning, Performance, Monitoring, Evaluation and Administration, Jeff Radebe, said Operation Phakisa 2 seeks to improve the quality of care provided in 3 500 primary health care facilities, consisting of government clinics and community health centres.
“The expected outcomes entails transformation of the existing clinics and community health centres into centres of excellence, which will be used by all South Africans, due to the enhanced quality of services they will provide,” said Minister Radebe
Over the last five weeks, a team of 164 senior managers from the national, provincial and local government spheres of government, together with their counterparts from the private sector, organised labour, academia, civil society and public entities, participated in an Operation Phakisa laboratory to devise ways and means of making the ideal clinic concept a reality.
They were supported in this process by officials from the Performance Management and Development Unit in Malaysia, where they learned about the Big Fast Results delivery model.
Operation Phakisa: Ideal Clinic Initiative was organised into eight work streams, focusing on the different building blocks of an Ideal Clinic capable of delivering good quality health services.
The work streams include service delivery, waiting times, human resources, infrastructure, financial management, supply chain management, scaling up and sustainability and institutional arrangements.
Background
In July, the President launched the first phase of Operation Phakisa which focuses on unlocking the economic potential of South Africa’s oceans.
Operation Phakisa is an adaptation of the Big Fast Results methodology that was first applied by the Malaysian Government, successfully, in the delivery of its economic transformation programme.
The operation addressed their national key priority areas such as, poverty, crime and unemployment.
It involves setting up clear targets and follows up with on-going monitoring process which makes the results public.
Through this initiative, the Malaysian government was able to register impressive results within a short period.
President Zuma said South Africa has renamed the Malaysian Big Fast Results approach as Operation Phakisa – from a Sesotho word, which means “Hurry Up”, to highlight the urgency with which government wants to deliver on some of the priorities encompassed in the NDP.
The initiative will initially be implemented in two sectors, the ocean economy and health sector, especially clinics. –SAnews.gov.za