Health MEC explains burdens BREAKDOWN
THE MEC for Health, Lebogang Motlhaping, explained that cumbersome burdens were draining the department’s limited resources, during his budget speech yesterday.
He indicated that this included rising costs associated with providing quality health services to a growing population, medication, equipment, health professionals and upgrading infrastructure.
“According to the National Department of Health, the sector requires R13.1 billion to sustain the current health services, food inflation of 8.7 percent and medical inflation exceeding 11 percent.”
He stated that personnel costs took the biggest chunk (54 percent) out of the budget for the 2017/18 financial year.
“The health sector is spending an average of 65 percent of its overall budget on compensation of employees, while our department spends 54 percent. We are closely reviewing whether the department is implementing efficient staffing norms and practices.”
Motlhaping indicated that gross negligence claims against staff had compelled the department to develop a plan to ensure the proper assessment of past, present and future medico-legal claims.
“We will engage in a mediation process towards the speedy resolution of these matters and facilitate savings on future medical expenses. We will establish a multi-disciplinary team comprising of both medical and legal experts in retrieving and reviewing records. The team will advise the department on whether to negotiate, mediate or defend the matter.”
He stated that a minimum of 30 percent of the departmental budget would be directed towards insourcing services, including security, cleaning and food services.
He added that at the end of March, 55 700 HIV positive patients had been placed on the antiretroviral treatment (ART) in the Province, where 54 percent of the HIV conditional grant would be spent on broadening access to treatment.
“The department is planning to enrol more than 69 256 HIV positive adults and children on ART by the end of March 2018.”
Motlhaping stated that the department would expand multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) treatment sites at the West End Hospital and the Dr Harry Surtie Hospital as well as in the John Taolo Gaetsewe, Namakwa and Pixley ka Seme districts.
“Primary infections in the Province Administration:
District health services: Emergency medical services: Provincial hospital services: Central hospital services: Health sciences and training: Health care support services: Health facilities management: Equitable share:
Conditional grants:
remain high. Just more than R8 million has been allocated to improve the functioning of the MDR-TB control programme including early detection and decentralised treatment. An additional R6.2 million has been put aside for TB screening and diagnosis.”
He said the Northern Cape was the only Province in the country that was offering a revolutionary drug, Herceptin, to treat breast cancer patients, at a cost of R4 million per year.
“Another R2 million was set aside to establish our own radiotherapy oncology bunker.”
Motlhaping indicated that due to procurement challengers, the operational ambulance fleet had been reduced from 110 at the beginning of this year to just fewer than 70.
“This number is a bit of a moving target, because we have ambulances coming out of repairs on a daily basis, while damaged vehicles need to go in for maintenance. We will bring 20 new ambulances into service today and allocate an additional 18 ambulances to the fleet.”
He said youths from the John Taolo Gaetsewe district would to trained to work in the emergency medical services (EMS) control room to take emergency calls and dispatch ambulances.
“An innovative WhatsApp group is being used to co-ordinate inter-hospital transfers and discharges across the Province.”
He stated that they expected the new Northern Cape mental health hospital to be completed before the end of the year.
He also explained that medical services almost suffered a total collapse at the Dr Harry Surtie regional hospital in Upington due to a sudden exodus of doctors last year.
“Thanks to a recovery project team established in January 2017, medical staffing has been stabilised.
“The locum agency doctors were terminated as this distorted the permanent recruitment process and caused excessive overspending on the goods and services budget. Despite national shortages, specialists in anaesthetics and dermatology and a paediatric specialist have been appointed at the Dr Harry Surtie Hospital.”
He added that a multi-disciplinary programme would be designed to diagnose, treat and care for patients who had contracted illnesses while working in asbestos mines in the Kuruman region.
Motlhaping said that a mortuary would be constructed in the Namakwa district while the upgrading of the heating and ventilation systems at the Kimberley Hospital, to improve infection control, was also on the cards.
He indicated that the standard of care at the Kimberley Hospital, as the only tertiary hospital in the Province, has been improved through the procurement of the necessary clinical and support equipment to the value of R40 million.
He stated that the Boegoeberg and Bankhara-Bodulong clinics would be redesigned to comply with the implementation of the ideal clinic principle.
“A number of projects will be implemented to address service delivery challenges, namely the construction of nursing student accommodation, the installation of water storage facilities at 25 clinics and the installation of boreholes at 15 clinics. The John Taolo Gaetsewe regional hospital will be constructed in the next financial year.”