NATIONAL ASSEMBLY
FOR WRITTEN REPLY
QUESTION NO. 2769
DATE OF PUBLICATION IN INTERNAL QUESTION PAPER: 31 JULY 2015
(INTERNAL QUESTION PAPER NO. 26)
Mr M G P Lekota (Cope) to ask the Minister of Health:
Whether the Government had formally requested or will request provincial
legislatures through the means available to it to undertake all extensive
audits of the (a) maintenance, (b) management and (c) functioning of
hospitals with a view of compiling a national report on the quality,
appropriateness and speed of healthcare in the country so that appropriate
actions can be taken by national government to deal with horror stories of
neglect, indifference, rodent infestation, shortages and mismanagement; if
not, why not; if so, when will his department request such a report from
provincial legislatures in order to table a consolidated national report
before Parliament?
NW3201E
REPLY:
No, we do not think that it is the job of Provincial Legislatures to
undertake extensive audits of â
a) maintenance;
b) management;
c) functioning hospitals
The Provincial Departments of Health are doing so already, through various
projects in partnership with the National Department of Health.
The National Department of Health has implemented a multi-disciplinary
technical assessment of health facilities starting in the NHI Pilot
Districts, to establish the status of the relevant services and
installation, recommend appropriate remedial interventions, where required,
prioritise these in terms of criticality and determine the associated cost
estimates.
On the issue of management of hospitals, the Development Bank of Southern
Africa (DBSA) conducted a comprehensive assessment on management of
hospitals. This led to a policy change whereby only people with a health
background may be CEOs of hospitals.
On the issue of functioning of hospitals, the Office of Health Standards
Compliance (OHSC) conducts inspections on quality of health services.
END.