Public Health Facilities

The Public Service Commission (PSC) briefed MPs on the outcome of its inspection to selected health facilities. The aim of the inspection was to assess the quality of services to the public, the state of facilities and the conditions at service sites.

Overall, the Commission found that many of the buildings and infrastructure were dilapidated and old, needing to be replaced and refurbished urgently, and that medicines and patient folders were not secure or locked away. The staff vacancy rates in some of the hospitals  - including doctor and nurses - was alarming, at around 46%, and the reasons given by the officials related to budgetary constraints and the moratorium that had been placed on further staff. The waiting period in most of the hospitals is long, the waiting area is not spacious enough for the patients, and in some facilities the nurses shared consulting rooms and in addition had to vacate the rooms and keep their patients waiting if a specialist doctor was visiting.  The security situation in most of the facilities is not up to standard. There is generally no problem with obtaining medicines, but there is a problem in having sufficient working equipment such as monitors and special beds for maternity cases. Emergency medical services fell short of expectations.

MPs complained that the quality of the report was poor, thin and did not meet the expectations of the Committee. The PSC explained that this was not the final report, but rather a ‘dip-stick’ inspection to see the most glaring issues and bring it before the executive. Their final report was still being drafted and would be forwarded to the Committee once finalised.

On a related note, government’s performance monitoring plan is gaining traction, with over 850 facilities checked under the Frontline Service Delivery Monitoring (FSDM) Programme. The programme got off the ground in 2011, with Minister in the Presidency for Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation Jeff Radebe on Monday saying they have facilitated improvements at more than 150 facilities that had poor frontline performance.