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At Mediclinic, the patients are at the heart of the company’s daily activities, therefore the relationship with them starts long before they are admitted to hospital - and continues long after they have been discharged.
“Every activity that has an effect on a patient’s experience at a Mediclinic hospital; every interaction with patients, is regarded as part of their ‘journey’ - and will in future be approached and handled with even greater care in order to improve this journey,” says Wimpie Aucamp, Mediclinic Southern Africa’s chief operating officer.
This journey begins as soon as the patient consults a GP and is referred to one of the specialists at a Mediclinic hospital. Then comes the admission process, and, depending on the diagnosis, perhaps preparation for theatre, the operation, postoperative care, the recovery period, discharge, follow-up and rehabilitation.
“What we would like to achieve is, first of all, to standardise the journey at all 52 hospitals in southern Africa, to ensure that patients enjoy an excellent, top-quality experience throughout in all our hospitals and then to take it to another level where Mediclinic’s brand ‘ambassadors’, our staff, will make a real difference,” Aucamp explains.
With this objective in mind, no fewer than 450 ideas were tabled and prioritised by members of the executive at a workshop earlier this year.
In subsequent workshops eight main areas were identified into which the 450 ideas will be sorted. Their practical application and financial implications were determined last month.
Aucamp says the new Mediclinic brand has placed the whole patient journey in the spotlight again, and “we regard it as an important focal point in the company - along with the name change, it has brought a new focus, and I am optimistic that the implementation of new ideas and projects will considerably improve the patient’s journey.”
Complaints
In the hospital industry, there will always be complaints, he adds. Complaints are usually related to the “hotel” component of the service, in other words, aspects such as the cleanliness of the hospital, the quality of the food, waiting times at reception, etc. It’s in fact these things that Mediclinic plans to devote a lot of attention to in order to improve the patient’s journey.
Communication is another aspect that’s often criticised. Patients want to know things like when the doctor is coming to see them, when they will be discharged, whether their medical aids will pay, and how the recovery process is expected to develop.
Clinical complaints, on the other hand, are far fewer, and that’s a relief, Aucamp says.
The shortage of manpower is something that occurs throughout the hospital industry, he says. “Because of the overall shortage of nursing staff in the country, it remains a challenge for us to appoint enough permanent staff at hospitals. However, the situation varies from hospital to hospital: in rural areas, for example, the problem is worse than at urban hospitals where, at this stage, we can still ‘buy in’ agency staff to meet our needs.”
However, there’s concern over the adequate training of nurses, as well as the high salaries that the public sector pays for nursing staff. “We struggle to compete with the State for staff and will have to implement alternative systems to resolve this problem in the long term.
“In this regard, Mediclinic’s recruitment of nursing staff from India has been a great success, and they are filling positions, especially in the rural areas. But the only long-term solution is sufficient training of nursing staff,” Aucamp stresses.
“Every activity that has an effect on a patient’s experience at a Mediclinic hospital; every interaction with patients, is regarded as part of their ‘journey’ - and will in future be approached and handled with even greater care in order to improve this journey,” says Wimpie Aucamp, Mediclinic Southern Africa’s chief operating officer.
This journey begins as soon as the patient consults a GP and is referred to one of the specialists at a Mediclinic hospital. Then comes the admission process, and, depending on the diagnosis, perhaps preparation for theatre, the operation, postoperative care, the recovery period, discharge, follow-up and rehabilitation.
“What we would like to achieve is, first of all, to standardise the journey at all 52 hospitals in southern Africa, to ensure that patients enjoy an excellent, top-quality experience throughout in all our hospitals and then to take it to another level where Mediclinic’s brand ‘ambassadors’, our staff, will make a real difference,” Aucamp explains.
With this objective in mind, no fewer than 450 ideas were tabled and prioritised by members of the executive at a workshop earlier this year.
In subsequent workshops eight main areas were identified into which the 450 ideas will be sorted. Their practical application and financial implications were determined last month.
Aucamp says the new Mediclinic brand has placed the whole patient journey in the spotlight again, and “we regard it as an important focal point in the company - along with the name change, it has brought a new focus, and I am optimistic that the implementation of new ideas and projects will considerably improve the patient’s journey.”
Complaints
In the hospital industry, there will always be complaints, he adds. Complaints are usually related to the “hotel” component of the service, in other words, aspects such as the cleanliness of the hospital, the quality of the food, waiting times at reception, etc. It’s in fact these things that Mediclinic plans to devote a lot of attention to in order to improve the patient’s journey.
Communication is another aspect that’s often criticised. Patients want to know things like when the doctor is coming to see them, when they will be discharged, whether their medical aids will pay, and how the recovery process is expected to develop.
Clinical complaints, on the other hand, are far fewer, and that’s a relief, Aucamp says.
The shortage of manpower is something that occurs throughout the hospital industry, he says. “Because of the overall shortage of nursing staff in the country, it remains a challenge for us to appoint enough permanent staff at hospitals. However, the situation varies from hospital to hospital: in rural areas, for example, the problem is worse than at urban hospitals where, at this stage, we can still ‘buy in’ agency staff to meet our needs.”
However, there’s concern over the adequate training of nurses, as well as the high salaries that the public sector pays for nursing staff. “We struggle to compete with the State for staff and will have to implement alternative systems to resolve this problem in the long term.
“In this regard, Mediclinic’s recruitment of nursing staff from India has been a great success, and they are filling positions, especially in the rural areas. But the only long-term solution is sufficient training of nursing staff,” Aucamp stresses.
