Question NW2896 to the Minister of Health

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05 November 2018 - NW2896

Profile picture: Mathys, Ms L

Mathys, Ms L to ask the Minister of Health

Has there ever been an independent assessment of the performance of the National Department of Health; if so, (a) by whom and (b) what were the outcomes?

Reply:

Several assessments have been done on the National Department of Health (NDOH) and its work including:

  1. The following organisations and Ministerial Task Teams have done assessments on the NDOH:
  1. The Department of Public Service and Administration (DPSA);
  2. The Auditor-General of South Africa (AGSA);
  3. The Clinton Health Access Initiative (CHAI) Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and Ministerial Task Teams;
  4. Health Systems Trust (HST)
  1. (i) An external assessment of the NDOH human resources structure and organogram was done by the DPSA. This assessment led to the approved current approved structure, and currently the NDOH is engaging the DPSA on the proposed NHI restructuring;

(ii) The AGSA annual assessments of performance information of human resources, finance, information technology and procurement systems management and adherence to required regulations and prescripts. The NDOH develops and implements and improvement action for each audit, such that it has obtained and unqualified financial audit from 2010 to 2017. For performance information several investments have been made to facilitate improvement in performance in the NDOH and the health sector. Key initiatives include implementation of the health patient registration system (HPRS);

(iii) Evaluations and assessments are often conducted for new initiatives introduced by the NDOH in the provinces, e.g the NHI pilot initiatives. With regards to the latter annual assessments have been done by independent organisations such as CHAI and CDC. Assessments are also done by expert committees established by the Minister, e.g the Ministerial Task Team I appointed in July 2015 to investigate the allegations of mismanagement, poor service delivery and unacceptable conditions in hospitals;

  1. Annual reviews of various components of the health system are done annually and published in the South African Health Review (SAHR). This has been done since 1995, and contents are written by health policy systems research experts. The SAHR is an accredited journal which covers a range of topics including policy, legislation, health systems, diseases, finance human resources, leadership, governance and others. This publication is unique to the health sector in South Africa, and is accessible at the HST website:.

http/www.hst.org.za/publications/Pages/HSTSouthAfricanHealthReview.aspx

 

       

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