Irregular health expenses at R1.02bn

The Finance and Fiscal Commission has criticised the Department of Health for not doing more to ensure that the provincial health departments improve their audit outcomes.

The Finance and Fiscal Commission (FFC) has criticised the Department of Health for not doing more to ensure that the provincial health departments improve their audit outcomes.

While provincial audit outcomes had improved since 2012-13, the pace of improvement had been slow, particularly over the past three years, the FFC’s provincial budget analysis manager, Ghalieb Dawood, told MPs on Tuesday.

The Eastern Cape, Mpumalanga, Limpopo and Free State had been persistently poor performers and had all received qualified audits in 2016-17. Only the national department and the Western Cape received unqualified audits for 2016-17.

“Even though the national health department has set a goal in its annual performance plan of five provincial departments achieving improved audit outcomes with no emphasis of matter, there is no indicator that explains how the department aims to assist provinces to achieve this target,” he said.

Fruitless and wasteful expenditure had soared from R871m in 2013-14 to R1.02bn in 2016-17, he said.

“Within a fiscally constrained environment, increased fruitless and wasteful expenditure is costly for provinces as budgets are under severe pressure.”

The FFC was briefing members of Parliament’s health portfolio committee on its assessment of the department’s annual performance plan. The department is due to address the committee members on Thursday.

FFC fiscal-policy manager Eddie Rakabe drew attention to the size of the department’s administrative programme, which is responsible for ensuring provincial departments improve their audits. “The department should consider resizing the programme and directing resources to health districts, where they will help manage the budget and ensure the audit outcomes improve.”