Industry News

IS IT, OR IS IT NOT...

04 November 2009

In Categories: Nursing , Industry News , Industry News > General

By Lucas Malambe

In his second-century canon, known as Metaphysics, Aristotle grapples with the logic of the law of contradictions and argues that every expression has a
single meaning for communication to be effective and serve its purpose. This logic makes a simple case that two antithetical propositions cannot both be true at the same time and in the same sense. A thing cannot be and not be at the same time. And nothing that is true can be self-contradictory or inconsistent with any other truth.

Well, that is not always the case. Take the coverage of the goings-on regarding the National Health Insurance (NHI) plan. A section of the media, quoting high-placed government sources, suggested that NHI introduction has been put on ice. Reading this observation against the background that the minister of health has named an NHI Ministerial advisory body one may be forgiven for feeling schizoid. Perhaps it demonstrates the cloak and dagger communication strategy that saw the department of health win the worst communicator prize from Open Democracy Advice Centre (ODAC).

ODAC established these ignoble awards three years ago, to mention and shame the worst performing government departments when it comes to complying with the Promotion of Access to Information Act (PAIA). This simply means the department of health is the most insensitive and secretive institution when it comes to releasing information to the public it serves. No wonder the broader healthcare sector is still in the dark about when to expect the NHI green paper to be tabulated for public input.

Lamentably, this type of communication encourages sensationalism, innuendos and rumour-mongering. It is also fertile ground for finger-pointing and the rule of anarchy, an observation made last month by President Jacob Zuma, when he told mayors and premiers from all nine provinces that the lack of dialogue is one of the causes of the violent service protests that recently engulfed the country. I agree with Zuma and believe the unprecedented doctors strike we saw in mid 2009 was a product of confusion and news-mongering rather than clear communication. The same can be said with healthcare professionals and associations opting to take the department of health to court. It is a department prone to missing opportunities to communicate its intentions to the industry.

The policy of secrecy (and giving information on a need-to-know basis) does nothing to address critical issues. It only fosters an environment where the strong and loudest survive. It is all about who has the ear of decision-makers and/or money to take the department to court in order to assist the department to comply with PAIA.

On a more positive note, the Hasa Awards of Excellence 2009 finalists for the Oscars of Health (the Ministerial Health Worker Awards) have been mentioned. The event is on 25 November 2009, and that is where the Hasa CEO will announce the overall winner. Good luck to all the finalists.

Lucas Malambe, Executive Officer for Corporate Communications, is the www.hasa.co.za webmaster.