The Queen ‘Mamohato Memorial Hospital Public Private Partnerships project in Lesotho was this week named one of the top ten PPPs to be completed during the period 2007 to 2012 in Sub-Saharan Africa. The hospital employs 819 members of staff and directly serves a population of over 500 000 people residing in the greater Maseru region. It also acts as the national referral hospital for Lesotho’s total population of just under two million people.
The PPP project was lauded for not only transforming healthcare services in the Kingdom of Lesotho but also for setting a strong example of a PPP in action. A judging panel of PPP experts were “impressed with the new referral hospital’s ambitious plans to replace the Queen Elizabeth II Hospital with a new facility and network of refurbished urban clinics that provide vastly improved services while addressing the previous facility’s shortages of hot water, heat, medical supplies, pharmaceuticals, trained staff and reliable equipment.”
The accolade resulted from a global competition, sponsored by the International Financial Corporation (IFC) and Infrastructure Journal, to identify the 40 best PPPs in emerging markets in four regions and demonstrate the potential of PPPs in helping governments build infrastructure, deliver public services and reduce burdens on the poor. Projects were nominated by governments, industry, NGOs, academia and other organisations for consideration. Commenting on the project Edward Farquharson, an Emerging Partnerships judge, said: “It is a fascinating project as it is the first full-service health PPP in Africa, excluding South Africa. What is interesting about this project is it includes clinical services, which is a really difficult process to take on and manage.”
Late last year the Queen ‘Mamohato Memorial Hospital also received the distinction of being listed by global professional services firm KPMG as one of the 100 “most innovative and inspiring” urban infrastructure initiatives in the world. The project featured in the second edition of Infrastructure 100: World Cities Edition, which was released at the 2012 World Cities Summit in Singapore. It was one of only six African projects to have been recognised in this way.
According to Richard Friedland, CEO of The Netcare Group, the Lesotho project clearly demonstrates what can be achieved with the aid of a carefully conceived and implemented PPP model. “These experiences can be drawn upon closer to home, as there is much that can be achieved through the effective use of PPPs in South Africa.”
“The new hospital replaced the Queen Elizabeth II Hospital, which was more than a century old. Serving as a national referral facility, Queen ’Mamohato Memorial Hospital is viewed as central to the ongoing reforms and improvements in health sector policy being undertaken by the Government of Lesotho. The project is set to lead the way in future healthcare delivery on the African continent. The Lesotho PPP has the added benefit of providing system-wide gains in efficiency while maintaining predictable government expenditure,” added Dr Friedland.
The local Basotho community has embraced the new hospital, which opened its doors to the public on 1 October 2011. In 2012, its first year of operation, 404 400 outpatients and 24 247 inpatients received healthcare through this initiative. A total number of 6 458 births were recorded and 6 502 surgical procedures were performed. Patient and family satisfaction rates of 89% were reported at the hospital.
The Queen ’Mamohato Memorial Hospital forms the pinnacle of an innovatively structured, landmark Public Private Investment Partnership (PPIP) between the Lesotho Government and Tšepong, a regional consortium led by Netcare. The project involved the building of the 425-bed hospital and the refurbishment of the Mabote, Qoaling and Likotsi semi-urban filter clinics, which opened to the public in May 2010.
Notes to editors
- More about the Tšepong Consortium and Netcare
The consortium, Tšepong (Pty) Limited is comprised of Netcare Hospital Group (Pty) Ltd (40%); Excel Health Services (20%), an investment company for Lesotho-based specialists and general practitioners (GPs); Afrinnai Health (Pty) Ltd (20%), an investment company for Bloemfontein-based specialists and GPs; D10 Investments (Pty) Ltd (10%), the investment arm of the Mohloli Chamber of Business; and Woman Investment Company (Pty) Ltd (10%), a Basotho Women investment company.
Netcare has extensive experience in partnering with governments on healthcare service delivery. In South Africa Netcare has entered into formal public-private investment partnerships (PPIPs) with the Health Departments of the Free State and Eastern Cape. It also has a number of PPIP contracts relating to both healthcare delivery and healthcare training that will improve the quality of care available. Netcare Healthcare UK has furthermore fulfilled several, successful contracts since 2001 on behalf of the National Health Service (NHS).
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Issued by: Martina Nicholson Associates (MNA) on behalf of Netcare
Contact: Martina Nicholson, Graeme Swinney or Monique Vanek
Telephone: (011) 469 3016
Email: [email protected], [email protected] or [email protected]