Mamelodi Hospital in Pretoria made headlines in May last year when 76-year-old Martha Marais was found tied to a bench in the facility’s Accident and Emergency section. Spotlight visited the hospital to see what has changed
Mamelodi Hospital in Pretoria made headlines in May last year when 76-year-old Martha Marais was found tied to a bench in the facility’s Accident and Emergency section.
Inside the hospital, addressing Spotlight in his office on the second floor of the red brick hospital building, Soe points out the improvements he spearheaded.“Over ten years it has been totally neglected. When I got here it was terrible. When I arrived here, I took complete accountability,” he says.
“For example, if you don’t supervise, a doctor will see five to ten patients a day. If you really make their working environment conducive, this doctor will quickly see twenty patients a day. If you show as a leader, you are generous, you are kind. The nurse, also the same. The cleaner, also. It was bad when I arrived here, it was terrible. Those floors were so dirty. I mean, in four months’ time, the cleaners are now so motivated. You may witness now the floors are shining everywhere.
“In 1994 I heard that South Africa is looking for a foreign doctor and I went to England. There I asked, is it true? Is South Africa inviting foreign doctors? I sat for the exam at the South African embassy in London in 1994. And then I personally, I came here, I got a job. My first job started in Pretoria in July 1995. Fortunately, because it was Pretoria, visas was not a problem. My wife and five-year-old daughter arrived here in October 1995.
“Now she has a BCom in investment management and is a project leader at a bank in Singapore. My second daughter, she was born here in 2000. She got seven distinctions in matric, and a ninety percent average. She is first year studying a BCom in accounting, she wants to be a chartered accountant.”“I am very grateful,” he says.
For the tour of the premises, we are joined by a throng of senior staff members including clinical manager Dr Terrence Makhudu and assistant nursing manager Naomi Masemola.
South Africa Latest News, South Africa Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Maverick Citizen: Spotlight: Mamelodi Hospital: A promising new start after the 2019 handcuffing scandalMamelodi Hospital in Pretoria made headlines in May 2019 when 76-year-old Martha Marais was found handcuffed to a bench in the facility’s Accident and Emergency section. Spotlight visited the hospital to see what has changed.
Read more »
Covid-19: Italy reports 475 new deaths, highest one-day toll of any nationItaly on Wednesday reported 475 new deaths from the novel coronavirus, the highest one-day official toll of any nation since the first case was detected in China late last year.
Read more »
Covid-19: Italy reports 475 new deaths, highest one-day toll of any nationItaly on Wednesday reported 475 new deaths from the novel coronavirus, the highest one-day official toll of any nation since the first case was detected in China late last year.
Read more »
Q&A: How far off am I financially to retire comfortably?You should plan for your pension to last 30 years in retirement
Read more »
Why the new oil war is different from the last threeThis is Riyadh’s fourth price war, but this one is likely to be longer
Read more »
Chefs, teachers' jobs overseas put on hold because of coronavirusTshepiso Mokoena's excitement at moving to the US to start a new job as a chef has been short-lived.
Read more »