Princess Marina reveals her secrets
Nnasaretha Kgamanyane | Friday May 29, 2015 15:05
Mmegi: Please give us a brief introduction about yourself and when you started working for PMH?
Kutlapye: My name is Donnell Kutlapye and I worked as the private secretary to the Minister of Health between 2010 and 2014 where my duties were to manage and coordinate the work of the minister’s office to ensure timely and efficient delivery of service to the minister.
I also performed protocol functions on occasions involving the minister, initiated budgetary requirements for the minister’s and also processed and briefed on media requests. In November last year, I was transferred to Princess Marina Hospital where I am currently working as the hospital’s Chief Communications and Public Relations Officer.
Mmegi: Recently, we have seen PMH opening up to both the media and the public about its services, challenges and achievements. How did you convince the hospital to do this?
Kutlapye: I think it comes with the level of management. Unlike the previous PROs I came into the hospital at a higher rank. When I started at PMH, there was no communication strategy in place. I produced one and presented it to the management and they agreed to certain issues, and declining others. I persevered and showed them that if they did not open up to external stakeholders like the media, assumptions would keep on emerging in the media.
I told them that the media is not our enemy, but if we do not open up to them, they will keep on writing those assumptions and what they see or what people tell them. I made them aware that it was up to us to highlight our successes so that the public would appreciate what we do. In many cases, you would realise that out of 100 good things that the hospital does, none are communicated to the public. The one bad thing that happens, meanwhile, appears on the front pages of newspapers and can tarnish the hospital’s image, while there are many good things it does also.
Mmegi: Was it easy to get management to open up to both the media and the public?
Kutlapye: It was really hard to get PMH management to open up about their services. They were very reluctant to open up to both the media and the public about what was happening at the hospital. It was even hard to get them to speak to the media, but I had to mentor them on how to speak to the media. The biggest challenge I had was when I wanted to open the Facebook page. They had a negative perception and really dismissed the idea, but I had to go to the superiors and point out the importance of opening that page. I was given the go ahead to open it and within two weeks, we had thousands of followers. After taking management for interviews on air, they loosened up and realised that people appreciated their work.
Mmegi: What can we expect from the Hospital in future?
Kutlapye: We intend to establish more specialised clinics with specialists so that our patients can access the best services they need.
I would also like to establish road signs that clearly indicate to the public where we are located. That can guide them on which ways they can use to reach us.
We have already held a community Pitso where we sold our services and we do regular check ups and prescriptions to patients in Gabane. We intend on taking this to more villages across the country, especially the most rural areas and settlements so that Batswana can appreciate our services.
Mmegi: What are the challenges of working in an organisation that faces so many challenges?
Kutlapye: Like any organisation PMH has its challenges. I, at times, find it hard to work with some people more especially some nurses who have difficulties with mindset change. Some of them are against what I do.
The other challenge is that I work alone and there is a lot to be done. At times I find it difficult to deal with the media, the public and do other tasks that my job requires.