It is not uncommon at this time of year, for organisations and individuals alike, to reminisce on what has been in the year gone by. Perhaps it’s in the passing of the calendar year that forces us to measure our achievement against earlier aspirations, or the accomplishments of others.
This year has been a fruitful one despite the challenges we experienced. The HPCSA strives to deliver the best possible service and serving all the professionals and the public is a key priority. Our call centre continued to break records in the number of customers it serves on a daily basis. In the year under review, the call centre handled over 160 000 calls and just over 25 000 email enquiries. With the increasing volume of calls and email enquiries received, we endeavour to continue pursuing innovative means to address these challenges.
We recently concluded a call for nominations of members for the 12 professional boards to serve for the next five years. Persons registered with the HPCSA were invited to submit nominations of members to serve on their respective professional boards, which closed on 30th October 2014. What remains now is the appointment of the professional board members by the Minister of Health.
The registrations department has recently started conducting off-site registrations of final year students and interns at various universities across the country. The aim of the campaign is to assist interns and community service practitioners to register and be ready to commence their internship and community service on time, which is ordinarily at the beginning of the year. This initiative is also aimed at reducing traffic flow at the walk in centre at the Council’s Head Office in Pretoria. At these off-site registration centres, applicants are able to ensure that their applications meet the set requirements and were then promptly registered.
The support services department completed several maintenance projects. We installed a biometric access control and surveillance system for both HPCSA buildings and a standby diesel generator for the main building. The generator came at a good time, with recent load shedding we have been experiencing. Provision was made in the 2014/15 financial year budget for a generator for the Metrodenpark building.
These are some of the highlights for the year, there is a lot that has been done by other departments that does not go unnoticed. At the core of these achievements are our people – employees of HPCSA and I commend you for your contributions this year. As you know the whole is greater than the sum of its small parts. We worked as team and it is through these efforts that we managed to weather the storms that came with 2014.
There is a need for us to share a common organisational culture. A corporate culture is an observable, powerful force in any organisation, made up of its members’ shared values, beliefs, symbols and behaviours. An organisation’s culture guides individual decisions and actions at an unconscious level, as a result, this culture can have a potent effect on the organisation’s well-being and success.
Some consider a corporate culture to be the glue that holds everyone together while others compare it to a compass providing direction. Operating largely outside our awareness, corporate culture creates a common ground for team work and reduces uncertainty by offering a language for interpreting events and issues. Corporate culture effectively provides a sense of order and contributes to continuity and unity.
In the year ahead, we have to work on evolving to adapt to the ever changing needs of our society and the environment in which we operate. We need to enliven our passion towards our work. Work ethic ethos needs to pervade our business. We need to have a sense of urgency and purpose in the air. The demeanour of our staff has to always be admirable…co-operation, teamwork and service orientation! HPCSA needs to restore its status of being the employer of choice.
Where will this all come from? Will it perhaps be the satisfaction and confidence that results when people belong to a winning team, or the esteem that is built when opportunities for growth and promotion are offered and accessed? We will be relying on you to tell us…we will be conducting an employee survey that will help us determine our employee needs. This much anticipated journey is one that will take us through many milestones. If we work together, we will grow stronger, wiser and better at what we do.
It will be our combined efforts that will shape the HPCSA that we envision. It is your hard work and team spirit that will ensure that our organisation continues to play a pivotal role in the development of quality healthcare for South Africans.
In conclusion, on behalf of all the executive and senior managers, I would like to thank you for the sterling work you have done throughout the year. You have demonstrated your commitment towards the achievement of our common goals and we have together put another brick in the foundation for creating a better HPCSA. We look forward to your support in the year to come and which I have no doubt will be a fruitful one.
We wish you and your families a joyous festive season. For those of you who will be traveling we wish you a safe journey to your holiday destination.
Thank You!
Dr Buyiswa Mjamba-Matshoba
CEO The Health Professions Council of South Africa (HPCSA)
Last Updated on 19 December 2014 by HPCSA Corporate Affairs