No doctors to okay grants
IT IS BELIEVED that thousands of people with ill health or disabilities are not able to access their social benefit grants from the South African Social Security Agency (Sassa) because of a lack of doctors to assess their condition.
It has been reported that there is a backlog of about 2 000 patients in Kimberley, who are currently on the waiting list to be assessed by a doctor. It is believed, however, that at some Sassa centres in Kimberley there has not been a doctor available since December last year.
According to patients, when they go to Sassa’s offices to see the doctor, they are told that there is not one available and they will be placed on a waiting list and contacted later.
“They told me not to come back to the office and that they will call me, but so far I haven’t heard from them,” a Kimberley mother of three, who is totally dependant on her grant, said yesterday.
Some patients said they go back weekly to follow up but are given the same story.
“I am totally dependant on my grant as I cannot work and have been receiving the grant for three years already.”
Suffering from severe depression and anxiety issues, the woman has to be evaluated each year in order for her grant to be renewed.
“I have been trying to see a doctor for two months now.”
Another mother, whose son has autism, has been trying to register her child for a permanent disability grant.
“I have been to the clinic and I have the necessary letters but there is no doctor available to assess him and, as a result, he cannot access the grant.
The mother said that she was dependent on other people to put food on her table to feed her children.
“I was told by the Sassa officials that because there are no Sassa doctors, they are dependant on private doctors and the latter decide who they want to see.”
A health care worker said that a local doctor was providing the service, but had not been paid and, as a result, stopped coming in.
“For many people the situation is critical, especially those who are newly diagnosed with TB and Aids and are too sick to work. Mental patients are also badly affected there is one mental health patient whose grant has expired. He doesn’t have any family support structure and he is without food and money because he cannot get the grant approved as there is no doctor available.”
According to statistics provided by Sassa, out of the 466 922 grant recipients in the Northern Cape, more than 50 000 currently receive disability grants.
“Sassa in the Northern Cape appreciates the opportunity to explain the situation with medical assessments in the Province that have inconvenienced many disability grant applicants and for which Sassa apologises,” Sassa spokesperson, Inno Khunou, said yesterday.
She said that in the outer years, prior to late 2016, Sassa had utilised the services of contracted medical doctors (i.e. private and those employed by the Department of Health), to provide medical assessments for Sassa applicants of the disability grant. “The majority of these contracted doctors were employed by the state.”
Khunou said the system worked well until the circular “Employees doing business with an organ of state” was issued to all government institutions and departments in September 2016. “This meant back to the drawing board for Sassa and medical assessments as the number of assessing doctors was reduced drastically.”
She said that medical doctors employed by the state and contracted by Sassa were then engaged by the provincial Department of Health and thereafter the doctors terminated their contracts with Sassa.
“Kimberley’s backlog peaks at 475 and not at 2 000 as incorrectly stated,” Khunou added.
She said that the termination of contracts affected Sassa operations seriously, especially the vulnerable applicants for the disability grant.
“All five districts of the Northern Cape are affected, namely Frances Baard, Namaqua, ZF Mgcawu, Pixley ka Seme and John Taolo Gaetsewe, with the first four being the hardest hit.”
She added that in Kimberley, Sassa had contracted three doctors, one of whom was currently assisting the ZF Mgcawu district.
“Medical doctors perform 40 assessments per day per doctor and we pay for services rendered within 30 days of receipt of invoice.
“Besides being required to register on government’s Central Supplier Database (CSD) to render this service, National Treasury regulations prescribe that these doctors must also be Sars compliant before doing any business with Sassa. Doctors do understand that failure on their side to comply or meet the requirements of CSD registration can result in delays of their payment.”