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Africa Outlook profiles Pietermaritzburg’s Daymed Medical Centre and Private Hospital, the realisation of one man’s dream. Writer Ian Armitage Project manager Eddie Clinton
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n 2004 The Daymed Medical Centre and Private Hospital opened its doors. The facility is the realisation of a dream of Dr Navind Dayanand, who has used his own money to set up it up. And he’s doing a fantastic job. “We employ 120 staff and have 85 beds, casualty, general and semi private wards, maternity, renal dialysis, an operating theatre, x-ray, ICU, ambulance services and much more,” Dr Dayanand explains. “It has taken a lot of resilience, hard work and determination.” Dr Dayanand is one of the most respected doctors in Pietermaritzburg and the hospital was born from a determination to “do something better”. “I wanted to have a small hospital basically and we’ve kept on growing,” he says. “How has it changed? I initially founded a medical centre and it grew significantly leading to the opening of a hospital, initially 22 beds and it increased and increased over time. And the range of medical services has also expanded.” In the last 12 months the hospital has performed “very well” with ward occupancy at “about 93 percent”. It has now embarked on an extension which will see the number of beds rise to 215. “We are extending the hospital now to almost 100 beds more,” says Dr Dayanand. “The building has commenced already and it is a multimillion-rand expansion. It is a modern hospital with better facilities and catering for the needs of today.” He loves the challenge of running his own hospital. “You get to do everything and I’ve been able to put my own imprint on everything. I think we can be more creative too and have a family-like atmosphere. Of course, decision-making is more straightforward and swift, so we Continued
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can be nimble. Basically all hospitals in South Africa are run by corporate companies. I am one of the few that runs my own hospital. I have to watch over everything.” But Dr Dayanand wouldn’t want to take all the credit for the hospital’s success. “The biggest thing is having the right staff,” he says. But, getting “the right people” especially as the hospital expands will be challenging. It will take time and a short to “We have a problem with nursing medium term solutions was needed. staff and we’ve actually been “There aren’t adequate nurses going to India to get them,” Dr trained in South Africa and those Dayanand admits. that are trained are moving abroad, going to the Arab countries,” admits Dr Dayanand. “They are tempted to leave for financial gain. Decision-making is There are better paid jobs there, more straightforward better conditions and less and swift, so we can infectious diseases. “We’ve had to recruit from India be nimble” because of the shortage of qualified professionals here. Also, I trained in India and qualified there and Indians have a high work ethic, while the In March, South African Health standards are excellent. Until we get Minister Aaron Motsoaledi unveiled sufficient numbers of nurses coming a national strategic plan aimed out of training institutions we will likely at rebuilding and revitalising the continue recruiting from overseas. nursing profession. The National Strategic Plan for Nurse Their arrival in South Africa has and will ease the burden of South African Education, Training and Practice was nurses battling staff shortages.” developed by a task team appointed Daymed’s ongoing expansion, by Motsoaledi following the 2011 which will be complete in 2014, Nursing Summit, which identified the will help position it for the future, main challenges facing the country’s especially in the fast-changing nursing profession. healthcare landscape in South Africa The plan seeks to promote high where healthcare can be divided into quality training along with high standards of professionalism and well- private and public – the haves and have nots, essentially. resourced practice environments for “There is stark difference between nurses and midwives. public and private healthcare in It also aims to ensure strong South Africa; no more so than when leadership at all levels of nursing looking at the facilities on offer,” and midwifery practice, as well as admits Dr Dayanand. the training of the number of nurses It is amazing that in a country of 49 required to deliver healthcare services million people less than nine million in the country.
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are covered by health insurance, referred to as medical schemes. The public healthcare system is characterised by run-down buildings, missing medication and widespread corruption, and not a day passes without a story about broken equipment leading to deaths or facilities closing because they cannot afford to pay their creditors. The private healthcare system is a world apart. It has worldclass facilities, the most advanced equipment and the best doctors. The result is that the quality of private care is much better than that offered in the public healthcare system. Of course, the National Health Insurance (NHI) scheme has been proposed as a way of addressing the balance. It has yet to be made law. “The Government says it is not intended to destroy the private sector believing it will make the sector more sustainable by making it levy reasonable fees,” says Dr Dayanand. “It is being piloted and it will impact all hospitals. We will need all available beds. The national health will give healthcare access to everyone. How will we position for that? We are quite well adjusted and will be able to provide care to more patients in the NHI once our expansion has finished. Demand for hospital beds is great. Hospitals have a shortage of beds and there aren’t enough to cater for the population.”
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Family butcher shop supplying the finest and freshest meats
www.willowton.co.za The Daymed Medical Centre and Private Hospital is an ultra-modern private and registered hospital which offers a “full and comprehensive range of medical services to all sectors of the community at affordable prices”. From its inception, a spirit of caring, dedication and community involvement has become its hallmark. “We’re well known for our quality and we are popular,” says Dr Dayanand. “Our modern architecturally designed building creates an ambience of friendliness and warmth and certainly adds a new dimension to what we offer. Those principles will remain in the expansion.” It is personal attention that sets Daymed Private Hospital apart from its competitors; Dr Dayanand is keen to maintain that. “What’s the secret to our success? Hard work, dedication and hands on management,” he concludes. The hospital is staffed by a handpicked team of experienced hospital management team and nursing staff who together have spent many years in the nursing field. To learn more visit www.daymed.net.
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Tel: +27(0)31 785 1166 / 7 Cell: +27(0) 82 946 3888 shaheen@magmasecurity.co.za / sales@magmasecurity.co.za
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DAYMED MEDICAL CENTRE AND PRIVATE HOSPITAL 595 Chota Motala Road (Greytown Road) Pietermaritzburg South Africa Tel: +27 33 387 1100 / 33 387 1014 Email: info@daymed.net
www.daymed.net