Question NW805 to the Minister of Social Development
01 October 2019 - NW805
Masango, Ms B to ask the Minister of Social Development
(1)Whether her department has put any mechanisms in place to monitor that the norms and standards set out in the Regulations Regarding Older Persons, 2010, are adhered to; if not, why not; if so, (a) what are the relevant details and (b) has she found that the norms and standards have been adhered to; (2) whether her department collects data on older persons to ensure that the Republic can benchmark itself against international data collected by the World Health Organisation, United Nations and other international organisations; if not, why not; if so, (a) what are the relevant details, (b) when was the last set of data collated and (c) where can the data be accessed; (3) whether her department monitors the training of persons who care for older persons; if not, why not; if so, what are the (a) relevant details, including the details of the training a person needs to complete to become a caregiver and (b) details of the institutions that offer the training; (4) whether her department monitors the facilities where caregivers work in the Republic; (5) what number of caregivers currently work in the Republic? NW1920E
Reply:
Yes, mechanisms have been put in place to monitor that the norms and standards set out in the Regulations are adhered to.
(1)(a) Regulation 11 (4) mandates that the Director-General, a Social Worker or a person designated by the Head of the Department (as per the delegations) must ensure that a registered residential facility is monitored and evaluated at least once annually as provided for in Section 22 of the Older Persons Act, 2006 (Older Persons Act No. 13 of 2006). The annual professional visit is aimed at ensuring continuous compliance with part 2 of the national norms and standards.
There are three levels of monitoring, viz.
District, Province and National levels.
In terms of Section 32 of the Older Persons Act No. 13 (2006), on Delegation of Powers, the Director-General has delegated the responsibility of monitoring as outlined in Section 15 and 22 of the Older Persons Act, to the Heads of Social Development (HODs) in Provinces.
The National Office of the Department, at varied times, randomly selects a few facilities to monitor compliance with the Older Persons Act, 2006, which is inclusive of unannounced visits.
(1)(b) It has been found that most of the residential facilities partially comply with the norms and standards. The findings are as follows:
(i) STRUCTURAL PRESCRIPTS
Most of the structures partially comply with the national norms and standards as they were built before the promulgation of the Older Persons Act, No 13 of 2006.
(ii) PROGRAMMES
Most of the facilities are compliant. However, there are gaps, especially in previously disadvantaged communities.
(2)(a) Data is collected annually or when there is a need in terms of the Older Persons Act, 2006. The Department also makes use of the data collected by Statistics South Africa and other research institutions such as the HSRC etc.
(2)(b) Data was collected in 2016/17 on the state of the services delivered to older persons in terms of the Older Persons Act, No 13 of 2006 since its implementation. The project was undertaken by the Department of Social Development in partnership with the Department of Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation. The research was titled “The Implementation Evaluation of the Older Persons Act, 13 of 2006” and is part of the National Evaluation Plan (NEP). This endeavour has enabled the collation of data relating to the implementation of the Act and thus elevated some critical issues on, i.e. the number of Older Persons accessing both Community Based Care and Support Services (CBCSS) and Residential Care Services, financial and human resource allocations, programmes for Older Persons implemented such as the protection of older persons, the Active Ageing Programme, Educational Programmes, Economic Programmes, Inter-generational Programmes etc.
Additionally, meetings were held with Statistics SA this year, (2019), with a view to update the existing data nationally.
(2)(c) The information is available in the Department of Social Development and at Statistics South Africa (Stats SA).
(3)(a) The Department has developed an Accredited Training Manual for Standardisation of the Caregiver Training Programme. To this effect, the Department annually conducts training of caregivers in partnership with the appointed accredited service provider.
After the training has been conducted, the department provides mentoring of the trained caregivers in order to support the caregivers to ensure that they put theory into practice and also the completion of their practical Portfolios of Evidence.
(3)(b) Currently there is only one service provider (NICDAM) accredited by the Health and Welfare SITA.
(4) Yes. Monitoring is conducted to facilities rendering services to Older Persons, to assess compliance with regard to the national norms and standards.
(5) The Department does not have the total number of caregivers currently working in the Republic as they work in various sectors.