Accreditation Manager, Warren Oxford-Huggett travelled to Pretoria in mid-September. The focus of his visits is always the self-assessment process, as well as discussion and mentorship opportunities and activities.
This coincided with the appointment of Motlalentoa Motsoane as the new APCC CEO and it was a true privilege to visit these sites together with the new CEO and as the Interim CEO, Tersia Burger, began the process of handover.
I was last in Gauteng in May and focused my attention on one or two new applicants as well as the sites in and around the greater Johannesburg area. This time there was a deliberate focus on the sites in the Pretoria area. There remain a few sites that have not been seen.
APCC discussions
Motlalentoa and I were able to spend a day getting to know one another and looking at the plans for the APCC, our members and the prioritisation of some of these plans. A good meeting was held with Dughall and Tersia as part of this process.
A key topic of conversation was the Discovery Fund grant that is to be spent on rolling out the IPC courses (in-person) between October 2025 and February 2026. The focus is on the more rural provinces and on extending the availability of Palliative Care services. Some of this training has been finalised and there are some provinces where we are still in the planning stage.
APCC membership discussions
I am often challenged about the value and benefit of being a member of the APCC. This question arises in the most obscure occasions and in the strangest of ways. I was recently asked more directly about the value of membership, and provided the following to the person concerned:
- Access to reduced costs of Palliative Care education (a variety of education and training programmes are available – please see the APCC website for more details – APCC – Association of Palliative Care Centres of South Africa).
- Once the membership application is completed AND the organisation has completed the Self-Assessment process successfully, membership of the APCC allows you to apply for a PCNS number from the Board of Health Care Funders. This, in turn, will enable certain claims for palliative care services to be claimed from medical aid. Please note this is a separate application, and you will need to meet the requirements of the Board of Health Care Funders (Board of Healthcare Funders – BHF)
- Participation in an ongoing quality improvement process through the organisational self-assessment programme (accreditation programme).
- Deriving benefit from advocacy done by APCC, which occasionally results in funding opportunities that can be shared among members.
Pretoria East (Sundgardens and Eesterust Association for Community Health-EACH)
These are two very different sites serving different communities. Both members have well-established and well-used IPU’s that offer much-needed palliative care services in their respective communities. The focus of our visit was to explore practical ways to implement the Organisational Self-Assessment and to share ideas that would help both sites move towards increased compliance.
The reception at both sites was welcoming, and Motlalentoa spent some time with the respective senior management teams and touring the facilities.
While greater collaboration is always needed, it was great to see how these neighbouring members were collaborating around bed space and sharing ideas.
Alexander and Sunninghill
The visit to Hospice Alex was at their request to follow up on the progress being made in the Organisational Self-Assessment. Tersia, Motlalentoa and I were surprised to be invited to a management team meeting, which had an extensive discussion on the benefits of membership and the difficulty in raising funds.
Some of the challenges of working with the Department of Health were raised, and opportunities to explore funding from social development were discussed. A short time was spent on reviewing progress on the self-assessment, and this will continue over the next few weeks.
The visit to Zazen was to introduce Motlalentoa to Dr Jesne Kistan, who is the current Chairperson of PALPRAC. This was a valuable opportunity to share ideas and look at the potential for greater collaboration.
Leratong
Leratong is a previously COHSASA-accredited site with an 18-bed IPU. Only IPU services are available, and the hospice enjoys a very good relationship with the surrounding community. The senior management team and I spent a great deal of time looking at the importance of the accreditation process and at more practical ways of implementing policy and monitoring implementation. There was a great deal of enthusiasm from the team.
Nedbank IMC Conference
The Nedbank IMC Conference was an eye-opener. Marketing is not something that I generally lean into, but there were a few truly wonderful presentations. The most interesting were about AI and the current and potential impact that AI will make on our lives, our world and our industry. APCC and our members need to look at what can be done in this area to ensure that our patients, their families and ourselves are best served by this amazing tool.
Of concern was the redirection of Corporate Social Investment from some of the big role players in South Africa into programmes that have a more direct impact and benefit on their own industry. This does raise the question about how we market and advocate for our patients and our services.
A big thank you to the organisers of the conference for the free access (in-person and virtual).
