IT HAS been a five-year journey of growth and challenges for the Gauteng Department of Emergency Services (EMS).
And throughout this period, the operational footprint of its stations has increased from 26 in 2015 to 50 this year.
During the round table discussions with unions representing EMS workers, the Portfolio Committee of Health received a presentation from the acting CEO of EMS in Gauteng,Kgati Malebana.
This on the department review for the past five years at the Gauteng Provincial Legislature.Not only has the number of stations increased, EMS has also succeeded in rendering essential services.
The department’s fleet footprint has also increased from 943 in the 2014/2015 financial period to 1,291 last year.
This includes the addition of multipurpose vehicles equipped with a stretcher and seating for patients,rescue vehicles and intensive care unit ambulances.
In addition, more than 600 qualified staff was employed.
According to Malebana, EMS has a system in place to be the first to recruit university paramedics graduates.
Said Malebana: “We’re competing with the international market, as our paramedics are some of the best in the world.
”The department has also established the quality assurance,monitoring and evaluation and loss prevention and control units.
It has also partnered with the RT46 contractor to support and strengthen some 33 automotive repair hubs ekasi, contributing to the economy.
But the Gauteng EMS, which renders pre-hospital emergency medical services, inter-hospital transfers and planned patient transport services has been feeling pressure.
This as it’s the largest by population.
But unions raised the issue of the safety of EMS workers.
As far as operational matters, the unions were concerned with the low moral affecting workers due to staff shortages and salary disparities that have been caused by provincialisation of EMS services, which were formerly under municipalities.
The Unions were also concerned with the efficiency of the EMS regarding response times to emergency calls.
This as the response time becomes 30 minutes or more instead of the stipulated 15 minutes.
According to unions, this was due to poor working conditions and lack of business tools, including GPS devices.
The Portfolio Committee commended the strides taken by the department to improve performance of the EMS in the province.
But it was concerned a void had been left in the communities that are far away from the EMS bases.
This despite provincialisation being introduced to improve the delivery of EMS services.
The Portfolio Committee urged the Department of Health to find ways of servicing the neglected communities by ensuring an increased number of bases were established near them.
The Portfolio Committee recommended that the Department of Health provide EMS with a detailed strategy to be implemented to improve the performance of its services by 31 April.
