Question NW2903 to the Minister of Health
23 September 2015 - NW2903
James, Dr WG to ask the Minister of Health
(1)For each pilot district of the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHI), what have been the major (a) successes and (b) failures of the implementation of the NHI in that specific pilot site; (2) how many private general practitioners have contracted with the State to work in the pilot districts?
Reply:
1. The National Health Insurance pilot districts are significantly varied in terms of institutional and organizational capacity. This variability is partly due to the selection methodology that was applied but also reflective of the geographic areas within which they are located.
a) Nonetheless, many of the programmes that have been piloted in the past few years have recorded significant successes such as establishment of fully functional Primary Health Care (PHC), namely Municipal Ward-based Outreach, District Clinical Specialists and Integrated School Health teams; strengthening of monitoring and evaluation capacity through appointment of key personnel; improved coordination and oversight of district planning through appointment of the provincial NHI coordinators; improved infrastructure maintenance and planning through involvement in the Operation Phakisa Ideal Clinic Realisation project; innovation dispensing and distribution of chronic medication as well as making steady progress towards e-Health-based patient registration systems, among many others.
b) Given the nature of the pilot districts, it is anticipated that challenges will exist in some districts, such as OR Tambo and Pixley Ka Seme, the ability to attract key health personnel to form part of the District Clinical Specialist Teams. Weak supply chain management systems and unforeseen delays in procuring key items is a key challenge that characterizes majority of the districts.
2. To date, 307 health practitioners have been contracted to render health services in public clinics across the pilot districts.
END.