An analysis of Hotels and its Similarities to the Management of Hospitals: A case study of a Provincial Hospital in South Africa

The South African concept of Provincial Hospitals in South Africa is characterised by the fact that it is managed by the state and its structure, operations and location were predominantly influenced by its historical record and to a large extent the challenges experienced with its management is directly linked to the problems of the past. This specifically has to do with the dire lack of essential resources from financial aligned resources to health care expertise. The stand- off here is against the desperate need for basic health care services from the many millions that have been previously disadvantaged. The ability to close this gap lies in the heart of efficient, effective and economical management of the provincial hospitals. The management of hotels and its link to the management of hospitals becomes significant within this context as essential elements such as hospitality and hospitality practice may be embraced within the management of health care services within South Africa. The paper explores the strong theoretical base of hospitality within hotels and its relevance to hospitals which is premised on service delivery the roots of which are fixed on the efficiencies of management practice. A theoretical model will be explored in respect of its application to the management of provincial hospitals in South Africa. This is further enhanced by a parallel study of a provincial hospital in South Africa which would incorporate amongst other an analysis of its socio-economic and legislative environments

An Empirical Study of Service Delivery within the Provincial Hospital of Kwa-Zulu Natal South Africa-A case Study

Health care services are an essential component of South African government policy and this is regulated by the Health Act, Act 61 of 2003. The study explores the services offered by the Provincial Hospital KwaZulu Natal, South Africa in relation to service delivery and management practices. The key participants to the study are the patients and staff of the hospital. A structured questionnaire to the patients and departmental heads of the hospital was applied. A structured interview was conducted with strategic level management of the hospital. The results of the study were organized thematically and were triangulated between the results of the various data collecting instruments. A presentation of graphs and tables would be used to facilitate the results of the data. The paper provides sound conclusions and recommendations for efficient and effective management and service delivery within the provincial hospital and which are applicable to many of the provincial hospitals in the country

Direct numerical simulation of heat transport in dispersed gas-liquid two-phase flow using a front tracking approach

In this paper a simulation model is presented for the Direct Numerical Simulation (DNS) of heat transport in dispersed gas-liquid two-phase flow using the Front Tracking (FT) approach. Our model extends the FT model developed by van Sint Annaland et al. (2006) to non-isothermal conditions. In FT an unstructured dynamic mesh is used to represent and track the interface explicitly by a number of interconnected marker points. The Lagrangian representation of the interface avoids the necessity to reconstruct the interface from the local distribution of the fractions of the phases and, moreover, allows a direct and accurate calculation of the surface tension force circumventing the (problematic) computation of the interface curvature. The extended model is applied to predict the heat exchange rate between the liquid and a hot wall kept at a fixed temperature. It is found that the wall-to-liquid heat transfer coefficient exhibits a maximum in the vicinity of the bubble that can be attributed to the locally decreased thickness of the thermal boundary layer

The nutritional content of the food supplied by food vendors to students in a South African University

University students often overlook the nutritional content of the food supplied by food vendors, either due to lack of knowledge or being unable to afford the variety of nutritious foods. With the relentless threat of the corona virus (Covid-19) lurking over South Africa and the ongoing search for a vaccine postulating that underlying health risks including diabetes and obesity may be an impediment in the fight of this pandemic, good nutrition is now essential. There is, therefore, a need to provide insight on food consumption and purchasing behaviours in South Africa with particular reference to the youth. Food vendors provide convenient access to affordable meals for university students. Whether the food provided is balanced or not is unknown. This study was, therefore, carried out to examine the nutritional value of the foods sold to university students by food vendors that were contracted to the four campuses of the Durban University of Technology (DUT). Utilising the qualitative approach, technical information was sourced using an observation technique and a structured menu recording sheet. Thus, data was collected by weighing the cooked and pre-cooked items individually to provide accurate nutrient assessment using an electronic food scale. Whilst this study only focused on the macronutrients, it was found that the nutritional value of foods served by these vendors was not balanced due to the fact that the top 15 meals  contained more than the World Health Organisation’s (WHO) recommended fat 15-30% contributing to energy. Furthermore, the contribution of  carbohydrates (CHO) was less than the recommended percentage of 55-75%. Notably, the students who consumed two or three of the top 15 meals  in a day exceeded the recommended intake of fat and energy for that day revealing a high probability that university students can be overweight.  This study recommends a menu improvement and a strong collaboration between the food vendors and the university’s Department of Food and  Nutrition to develop healthier menu options and assist students in making informed decisions regarding their health and consumption behaviours.  The main limitation of this study is that it only focussed on the macronutrients as recommended by WHO of the most popular meals, this study still  provides valuable insight into student nutrition and contributes to food consumption patterns by university students