Question NW162 to the Minister of Health
29 February 2024 - NW162
Hicklin, Ms MB to ask the Minister of Health
With regard to the Office of the Health Ombudsman (OHO), as revealed in the 202223 Budget Report, that there is a significant backlog in the cases to be adjudicated upon, (a) what impact of inadequate human resources contributed to the backlog, (b) how significant is the budget constraint in terms of the effectiveness of staff shortages and OHO's ability to fulfil its mandate and (c) what steps have been taken to address governance challenges experienced by the OHO?
Reply:
According to the Health Ombud:
a) Since the inception of the Office of the Health Ombud (OHO) in 2016, there have been inadequate investigative human resources to support optimal functionality. Commencing with two senior investigators in 2017, OHO had only five investigative staff between 2018 – and 2023 (Two senior investigators and three investigators). Due to the severe staff shortages, the two senior investigators were tasked with administrative, management, and operational responsibilities, in addition to their technical investigative responsibilities. Therefore, only three investigators were attending to the complaints lodged. During this period, the OHO received 307 high and extreme-risk complaints. Despite the enormous workload, 148 complaints were resolved during this period, and a total of 159 complaints remain unresolved.
b) The OHO budget constitutes an average of 13% of the OHSC overall budget from 2016/17 to 2022/23. The OHO's budget increased by an average of 7% per year. The provision of short-term relief in the form of surplus funding from 2018/19 to 2023/24 was made to remedy this predicament. This funding was used to enable the hiring of contract staff on 12-month contracts during the 2023/24 financial period. Although the ad hoc funding helped to reduce the number of backlog cases, there remains a large number of unresolved cases, in addition to new cases.
In 2024/25 the OHO will work towards converting the current contracted staff into permanent employment to boost the number of investigators from the additional R10 Million allocated over the MTEF. However, additional funding will still be required to appoint permanent staff to augment the capacity and ensure that the mandate of OHO is fulfilled.
c) In 2022 a Health Ombud Bill was developed to address the governance challenges experienced by the Ombud. The Bill sought to establish the Health Ombud Office as an autonomous entity.
The Ombud Bill served at the Social Protection, Community and Human Development Cluster (SPCHD). The National Treasury raised concerns with the financial implications of creating a Schedule 3A Public entity considering the current economic and fiscal challenges.
The National Treasury recommended that the Department explore alternative options that would establish the independence of the Ombud – one such structure recommended was the Tax Ombud or a shared service option.
While the two options are being explored, the department has earmarked the budget of the OHO for the 2024/25 financial year. This approach would provide greater financial certainty to the Ombud so that the budget for human resources, equipment and other goods and services can be effected.
END.