Questions & Replies: Health

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2015-03-23

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Reply received: June 2015

QUESTION NO. 1915

Ms S V Kalyan (DA) to ask the Minister of Health:

(a) Who are the current chief financial officers of (i) his department and (ii) the entities reporting to him and (b) what is the qualification of each chief financial officer?

NW2136E

REPLY:

The following Table 1. reflects the details in this regard

  1. DEPARTMENT

CURRENT CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER

  1. QUALIFICATIONS

 

Mr Ian Van der Merwe

  • Senior National Certificate,
  • Bachelor of Commerce,
  • Honours Bachelor of Commerce
  • Masters in Business Administration

 

(ii) ENTITIES

CURRENT CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICERS

(b) QUALIFICATIONS

Council for Medical Schemes

Mr. Daniel Lehutjo

  • Bachelor of Commerce (Education);
  • Post Graduate Diploma in Marketing Management; and
  • Masters in Business Administration

South African Medical Research Council

Mr Nick Buik

Bachelor of Commerce: Chartered Accountant (SA)

National Health Laboratory Service

Mr Skhumbuzo Zulu

- Bachelor of Commerce

- Bachelor of Commerce (Honours) - Chartered Accountant (SA)

-  Masters in Business Leadership

-  Certificate in Corporate Treasury

Office of Health Standards Compliance

Mr Julius Maphata

- Bachelor of Commerce (Accounting, Economics, Mathematics)

- Bachelor of Commerce  (Economics Honours)

- ACCA (member of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants)

END

 

 


Reply received: June 2015

QUESTION NO. 1840

Ms L V James (DA) to ask the Minister of Health:

Whether any progress has been made with regard to his department’s strategic goal to prevent disease and reduce its burden and promote health through a multi-stakeholder National Health Commission; if not, why not; if so, what are the relevant details?

NW2061E

REPLY:

No reportable progress has been made with regard to the establishment of a multi-stakeholder National Health Commission to prevent disease and reduce its burden. Given the complexity of this commission it is necessary to initially engage key potential participants and such consultations are underway.

END.

 

 

Reply received: June 2015

QUESTION NO. 1687

Ms V van Dyk (DA) to ask the Minister of Health:

(1)        (a) To whom was tender number NCDOH/RFI/2013/12/01 awarded for the construction of a new community health facility situated in Port Nolloth, (b) what was the proposed value of the tender, (c)(i) in what publication and (ii) on what date was the tender advertised and (d) what were the tender specifications;

(2)        whether the winning bidder was entitled to subcontract (a) part of the tender or (b) the entire tender; if so, (i) has the tender been subcontracted and (ii) to whom was the tender subcontracted;

(3)        whether an economic viability study was completed prior to advertising the tender, if so, is it publicly available;

(4)        what was the name of the departmental official who signed off on the project?

NW1907E

REPLY:

  1. (a)        The tender was awarded to Mpfumelelo Business Enterprise/Bonolo Supply V;

           (b)        R85,383,563.82 VAT inclusive;

           (c)        (i)         Diamond Field Advertiser and CIDB;

                        (ii)         04 December 2013;

           (d)        Detailed project specifications are contained in the Bill of Quantities issued to prospective bidders.

 

2. (a)         It is the prerogative of the winning bidder to either subcontract or not to subcontract;

    (b)        (i)         No, it has not been subcontracted;

                (ii)         Refer to (i) above.

3. A condition assessment in 2011 indicated the necessity that the existing structure is beyond repair and needed to be replaced. The normal project prioritisation, budgeting and planning was started and the original building contract was awarded on the 01 June 2012. The project was afterwards put on hold due to budget constraints.

4. The letter allocating projects to IDT post April 2013 was recommended by the Chief Director Infrastructure and Technical Services, Dr Gustav Pistorius and authorised by the HOD.

END.

 

 

Reply received: May 2015

QUESTION NO. 1638

DATE OF PUBLICATION IN INTERNAL QUESTION PAPER: 08 MAY 2015  

(INTERNAL QUESTION PAPER NO. 13)

Dr M J Figg (DA) to ask the Minister of Health:

With reference to the stated intention that inspectors will be appointed to make unannounced visits to hospitals to observe the quality of the facilities and the services rendered (details furnished), when will (a) these inspectors be appointed and (b) the inspections commence?

NW1855E

REPLY:

Honourable Member, this is not only a stated intention. The inspectors are appointed by the Office of Health Standards Compliance which is busy being established. The first group of inspectors has already been appointed and they have already conducted mock inspections in preparation for their quality compliance job.

 

Reply received: May 2015

QUESTION NO. 1637

DATE OF PUBLICATION IN INTERNAL QUESTION PAPER: 08 MAY 2015  

(INTERNAL QUESTION PAPER NO. 13)

Dr M J Figg (DA) to ask the Minister of Health:

(a) How many provincial Chief Financial Officers of his department are currently not employed in a permanent capacity and (b) why?

NW1854E

REPLY:

(a)        Four provincial health departments; namely KwaZulu-Natal, Limpopo, Mpumalanga and Northern Cape.

(b)        The reasons are as follows:

  • KwaZulu-Natal -   was dismissed.
  • Limpopo – is on permanent appointment but currently deployed to Limpopo Provincial Treasury whilst investigation is underway.
  • Mpumalanga – is on permanent appointment, however is on suspension and investigation is underway.
  • Northern Cape – has resigned.

 

Reply received: May 2015

QUESTION NO. 1634

DATE OF PUBLICATION IN INTERNAL QUESTION PAPER: 08 MAY 2015  

(INTERNAL QUESTION PAPER NO. 13)

Ms L V James (DA) to ask the Minister of Health:

(1)        (a) How many (i) nurses and (ii) specialist nurses are required for the roll out of the National Health Insurance scheme and (b) what are the relevant details of the current shortage of nurses in the country;

(2)        what are the vacancy rates for nurses in respect of each province?

NW1851E

REPLY:

I will be able to answer this question once we have completed our calculation of staffing needs through WISN (Workload Indicator for Staffing Norms). We are still busy with it.

 

Reply received: May 2015

QUESTION NO. 1598

DATE OF PUBLICATION IN INTERNAL QUESTION PAPER: 08 MAY 2015  

(INTERNAL QUESTION PAPER NO. 13)

Mr A M Shaik Emam (NFP) to ask the Minister of Health:

(1)        Does his department, in light of the numerous complaints that have been received about the attitude of nurses and the shortage of committed and dedicated nursing staff in our state hospitals and clinics, have programmes or plans in place to identify and attract candidates with a passion for healthcare to enter the profession in future;

(2)        has his department progressed with introducing healthcare as part of the school curriculum from Grade 10; if not, when can the discussions with the Department of Basic Education be expected to take place in this regard; if so, can he provide relevant details of such discussions?

NW1803E

REPLY:

Yes, definitely, two of the key interventions to improve nurses’ attitudes as determined in the National Nursing Strategy, is to change the model of training of nurses and to ensure that our selection criteria for entrants into this profession lead to the selection of people with a passion of care and service orientation.

Based on this, the Department is currently in the process of developing a national policy on nursing education, making public sector nursing education a national competency in preparation for the implementation of the new nursing qualifications that are aligned to the Higher Education Qualifications Framework.

In addition, as part of systems development, a national selection criteria for students will be reviewed and applied as an integral part of the national policy to ensure that recruited candidates have both the academic and social capabilities necessary for the nursing profession. Accordingly, the system developed will then be applied consistently across provinces.

In addition modules on professionalism and ethics will be strengthened be a compulsory part of all nursing education and training programmes.

 

Reply received: May 2015

 QUESTION NO. 1592

DATE OF PUBLICATION IN INTERNAL QUESTION PAPER: 30 APRIL 2015  

(INTERNAL QUESTION PAPER NO. 12)

Mr A M Shaik Emam (NFP) to ask the Minister of Health:

Whether, in view of the challenge faced by his department to attract general practitioners on a large scale to form part of the National Health Insurance (NHI) pilot project, his department will consider recruiting general practitioners from other countries in order to ensure the success of the NHI pilot project; if not, why not; if so, (a) how soon and (b) from which countries?

NW1802E

REPLY:

Honourable Member, I think a lot is being made of challenges faced by the Department in attracting General Practitioners for NHI Pilot projects. These are still very early days of NHI and it will be very wrong to jump to conclusions.

The Department has no plan to recruit General Practitioners from other countries because there is no country which has a “spare” of such people. At any rate our contracting is now going to be with a broad range of health providers and not only General Practitioners.

 

Reply received: May 2015

QUESTION NO. 1541

DATE OF PUBLICATION IN INTERNAL QUESTION PAPER: 14 APRIL 2015  

(INTERNAL QUESTION PAPER NO. 11)

Ms L V James (DA) to ask the Minister of Health:

Whether he has considered the use of mobile clinics to assist patients while permanent clinics are being built and staffed; if not, why not; if so, what are the relevant details?

NW1752E

REPLY:

Honourable Member, mobile clinics are already in use in every district in the country to improve access to hard to reach communities.

 

Reply received: May 2015

QUESTION NO. 1538

DATE OF PUBLICATION IN INTERNAL QUESTION PAPER: 14 APRIL 2015  

(INTERNAL QUESTION PAPER NO. 11)

Ms N I Tarabella Marchesi (DA) to ask the Minister of Health:

(1)        Whether the right of access to palliative care forms part of his department's access to health care services; if not, why not; if so, (a) what criteria or conditions are applied in assessing the necessity for palliative care and (b) what (i) measures have been and/or will be implemented to secure the right of access to palliative care for all by (aa) his department and (bb) provincial health departments and (ii) budget is available within (aa) his department and (bb) each of the provincial health departments to fund palliative care;

(2)        for each health district (a) what are the reasons or diseases giving rise to the need for palliative care, (b) how many persons are documented as requiring palliative care for each listed reason for the (i) 2012-13, (ii) 2013-14 and (iii) 2014-15 financial years and (c) for each reason or disease, (i) how many persons received the palliative care they needed, (ii) who provided the palliative care and (iii) what was the extent of the palliative care funded by the State?

NW1749E

REPLY:

  1. Yes, palliative care is provided as an integrated part of health care provision for people with life-threatening illnesses such as cancer, TB and AIDS.
  1. The World Health Organisation criteria for identifying people who would benefit from palliative care are used and this includes any person who is diagnosed with a life-threatening disease;
  1. South Africa has recognised the importance of palliative care and co-sponsored the World Health Assembly’s resolution 67.19 of May 2014 – “Strengthening of palliative care as a component of integrated treatment within the continuum of care”. We are now in the process of the progressive realisation of this resolution.
  1. While palliative care is being provided as described in (1) above, the following measures are being taken to strengthen the service:

(aa)       Guidelines and Standard Operating Procedures for palliative care are being developed in collaboration with stakeholders including the South African Hospice Palliative Care Association. Palliative care is part of the Primary Health Care package of services, while models for hospital-based palliative care are under review.

A National Strategy for Palliative Care is currently being drafted by the National Department of Health in collaboration with stakeholders. The Department is also reviewing a national Intermediate Care (IMC) policy. Palliative care is part of the NCD strategic plan, the National Strategic Plan for HIV/AIDS, STIs and TB and is an important aspect of the Cancer Control Plan currently in draft.

(bb)      Provincial Departments of Health have MOUs with the Hospice Palliative Care Association and provincial hospice associations to provide technical  assistance to improve palliative care.

  1. (aa)       Palliative care, including pain relief, is considered integral to the care of persons with a range of diseases and as such does not have a separate budget.

(bb)      Same as in (ii)(aa) above.

  1. Because palliative care is provided as part of other diseases, the Department does not keep statistics with regard to palliative care need or provision. Responding accurately to this question would require a specific research project.

 

Reply received: May 2015

QUESTION NO. 1497

DATE OF PUBLICATION IN INTERNAL QUESTION PAPER: 14 APRIL 2015  

(INTERNAL QUESTION PAPER NO. 11)

Ms D Carter (Cope) to ask the Minister of Health:

(a) Whether his department was studying developments in New Zealand or any other country to find a solution to the reluctance of young medical practitioners to become gynaecologists because of the prohibitive costs of insurance that they would have to bear annually without any caps put on such insurance; if not, why not; if so, (b) what action is he going to take to avert an impending shortage of (i) gynaecologists, in particular, and (ii) any other category of specialist medical personnel?

NW1706E

REPLY:

There is no need to study any developments in any country. We already know why young doctors are reluctant to become gynaecologists. We have had a medico-legal summit which made recommendations.

A task team has been appointed to study the recommendations and set up a plan of action.

 

Reply received: May 2015

QUESTION NO. 1487

DATE OF PUBLICATION IN INTERNAL QUESTION PAPER: 14 APRIL 2015  

(INTERNAL QUESTION PAPER NO. 11)

Ms V van Dyk (DA) to ask the Minister of Health:                              

(1)        How many permanent government (a) doctors and (b) dentists are situated in Kamiesberg;

(2)        (a) how many clinics are in the Kamiesberg Municipality, (b) which towns have their own clinics and (c) how many clinic sisters are employed in each clinic;

(3)        how many patients are seen on average in each month in respect of each clinic in the Kamiesberg Municipality?

NW1548E

REPLY:

 

(1)        (a)        None.  In the Kamiesberg Local Municipality there are no permanent        doctors. The permanent government doctor who worked in Kamiesberg LM    resigned completing his service in March 2015.

Currently the doctors situated in Springbok Hospital are rendering the service on a weekly basis (every Wednesday) in the Kamiesberg LM by way of an outreach to Garies Clinic and Garies CHC (Joe Slovo CHC).

                        The doctors are visiting all other clinics on a monthly basis.

(b)        None. In the Kamiesberg Local Municipality there are no permanent         dentists.

The dentists from Springbok also render a service in the Kamiesberg LM             area on a weekly basis seeing on average 105 patients per month.

(2)        (a)        Five (5) clinics and ten (10) satellite clinics.

            (b)        Garies, Hondelklipbay, Kamieskroon, Kharkhams, and Leliefontein.

            (c)        Please refer to the information set out in the table at the end of the page.

The sisters at the clinics are also providing services at the satellite clinics on a weekly basis.        

The Professional Nurse at Leliefontein PHC Clinic went on early retirement at the end of March 2015.

             

Four Community service Professional nurses were appointed on 01 May 2015 in the Kamiesberg LM, one each at the CHC; Garies clinic; Kharkhams clinic and Kamieskroon clinic. Interviews were held for all vacant funded posts for nursing personnel during the week of 20 – 24 April 2015.

                        Information on the Community Health Centre is as follows:

Town

Facility

Prof Nurse

Staff Nurse

Nursing Assist

Average Headcount per month

Average Headcount per  annum

Garies

Joe Slovo CHC (Garies)

5

4

9

456

5383

 

(3)        The average number of patients being seen per month in each clinic is set out in the table below:

 

Town

Clinic/

Satellite

Prof Nurse

Staff Nurse

Nursing Assist

Average Headcount per month

Average Headcount per  annum

  1. Garies

Clinic

2

1

1

652

7915

  1. Hondeklipbay

Clinic

1

-

2

358

4242

  1. Kamieskroon

Clinic

2

1

1

421

4992

  1. Kharkhams

Clinic

1

-

1

220

2746

  1. Leliefontein

Clinic

-

-

1

383

4615

  1. Kamasies

Satellite

-

-

-

86

1034

  1. Kheis

Satellite

-

-

-

120

1507

  1. Klipfontein

Satellite

-

-

-

108

1392

  1. Lepelfontein

Satellite

-

-

-

57

704

  1. Nourivier

Satellite

-

-

-

106

1284

  1. Paulshoek

Satellite

-

-

-

129

1500

  1. Rooifontein

Satellite

-

-

-

123

1496

  1. Soebatsfontein

Satellite

-

-

-

82

1009

  1. Spoegrivier

Satellite

-

-

-

71

899

  1. Tweerivier

Satellite

-

-

-

32

411

 

Reply received: May 2015

QUESTION NO. 1464

DATE OF PUBLICATION IN INTERNAL QUESTION PAPER: 17 APRIL 2015  

(INTERNAL QUESTION PAPER NO. 10)

Dr H C Volmink (DA) to ask the Minister of Health:

(a) How many invoices from private contractors to his department currently remain unpaid for longer than 30 days and (b) in each case, what (i) are the details of the (aa) contractor and (bb) services provided and (ii) what is the (aa) date of the invoice and (bb)  reason why the invoice was not paid within 30 days?

NW1677E

REPLY:

  1. No invoices currently remain unpaid for longer than 30 days from their date of receipt;
  1. (i)         (aa)       Not applicable;

(bb)      Not applicable;

(cc)       Not applicable.

 

Reply received: May 2015

QUESTION NO. 1428

DATE OF PUBLICATION IN INTERNAL QUESTION PAPER: 17 APRIL 2015  

(INTERNAL QUESTION PAPER NO. 10)

Prof B Bozzoli (DA) to ask the Minister of Health:

Does his department have a Regulatory Burden Reduction strategy in place; if not, why not; if so, what are the relevant details of the strategy?

NW1641E

REPLY:

I am sorry Honourable Member, I do not really understand the question. May you please clarify the question. Is the regulatory burden you are talking about, from point of view of government, NGOs, business, health professionals or members of the public?

 

Reply received: May 2015

QUESTION NO. 1367

DATE OF PUBLICATION IN INTERNAL QUESTION PAPER: 17 APRIL 2015  

(INTERNAL QUESTION PAPER NO. 10)

Mrs Z B N Balindlela (DA) to ask the Minister of Health:

Whether each chief financial officer (CFO) in each provincial department of health has been appointed in a permanent capacity; if not, (a) why not, (b) which of these CFOs are in an acting position and (c) in each case, for how long has this been the case?

NW1579E

REPLY:

No, only five Provincial Departments of Health, i.e Eastern Cape, Free State, Gauteng, North West and Western Cape have appointed CFOs in a permanent position.

 

  1. Some of the CFOs are suspended, dismissed and/or have resigned;

 

  1. KwaZulu Natal, Limpopo, Mpumalanga and Northern Cape;

 

  1. (i)         KwaZulu Natal – acting capacity commenced in November 2013 to date;

 

(ii)         Limpopo – acting capacity commenced in August 2012 to date;

 

(iii)        Mpumalanga – acting capacity commenced in September 2014 to date; and

 

(iv)        Northern Cape – acting capacity commenced in May 2014 to date.

 

Reply received: May 2015

QUESTION NO. 1357

DATE OF PUBLICATION IN INTERNAL QUESTION PAPER: 17 APRIL 2015  

(INTERNAL QUESTION PAPER NO. 10)

Mr K J Mileham (DA) to ask the Minister of Health:

(1)        Whether any traditional healers have been registered in terms of section 21 of the Traditional Health Practitioners Act, Act 22 of 2007; if not, (a) why not and (b) on what basis are traditional healers permitted to practice in the country; if so, how (i) many traditional healers have been registered, (ii) were the registrations captured and (iii) can the public access the registration database;

(2)        whether the Interim Traditional Health Practitioners Council has been established in terms of section 4 of the specified Act; if not, why not; if so, (a) when did the specified Council come into existence, (b) what is the composition of the Council and (c) how often has the Council met since it was established;

(3)        whether there is any intention to update the legislation to provide for a permanent body to oversee the practice of traditional healthcare in the country?

NW1569E

REPLY:

  1. No, the Department is finalising the institutional arrangements necessary for the registration of the Traditional Health Practitioners (THPs) as envisaged in the Act.
  1. The Traditional Health Practitioners continue to practice informally pending the finalisation of the institutional arrangements which include the appointment of the Registrar and the setting up of a regulatory framework to ensure the efficacy, safety and quality of traditional health care services.
  1. No traditional healers have been registered as yet;
  2. No registrations have been captured;
  3. There currently is no registration database to be accessed.

 

Reply received: May 2015

QUESTION NO. 1282

DATE OF PUBLICATION IN INTERNAL QUESTION PAPER: 17 APRIL 2015  

(INTERNAL QUESTION PAPER NO. 10)

Ms K de Kock (DA) to ask the Minister of Health:

(1)        Whether, with reference to his reply to question 1566 on 13 October 2014, the investigation has been concluded; if so, what are the main findings so far;

(2)        whether the full report of the investigation will be available for public scrutiny; if not, why not?

NW1491E

REPLY:

  1. Honourable Member, there were two investigations. The first one was a technical one which was to inform engineers what went wrong and what to correct. It has been completed and the corrections are being made.

The second one is a forensic audit and the legal side of it is not yet completed.

  1. The technical report is for engineers and technical people to correct.

 

Reply received: May 2015

QUESTION NO. 1280

DATE OF PUBLICATION IN INTERNAL QUESTION PAPER: 17 APRIL 2015  

(INTERNAL QUESTION PAPER NO. 10)

Ms K de Kock (DA) to ask the Minister of Health:

With reference to his reply to question 1725 on 3 November 2014, relating to psychiatric hospitals designated to implement the health mandates emanating from sections 77, 78 and 79 of the Criminal Procedure Act, Act 51 of 1977, that experience backlogs in admitting state patients in the Northern Cape, (a) how many state patients are waiting to be admitted to each of the designated psychiatric hospitals and (b) how long has each individual state patient been waiting to be admitted in each case?

NW1489E

REPLY:

  1. A total of 209 State patients are waiting to be admitted to designated psychiatric hospitals.
  1. Duration varies between 1 month to a year.

 

Reply received: May 2015

QUESTION NO. 1260

DATE OF PUBLICATION IN INTERNAL QUESTION PAPER: 17 APRIL 2015  

(INTERNAL QUESTION PAPER NO. 10)

Mr M G P Lekota (Cope) to ask the Minister of Health:

(1)        Whether he intends to introduce policy to permit doctors up to the age of 70 years, who were in good health and peak physical condition to remain at their post and if they so wished, to continue with sessional work up to the age of 75 years, in light of the acute need to meet the demand for medical service; if not, why not; if so, what are the relevant details;

(2)        whether he will undertake to introduce such a policy in the interest of both the doctors as well as patients?

NW1468E

REPLY:

  1. Honourable Member, this is a very good idea. I have been pondering it and introduced it to the then Minister for the Public Service and Administration, Honourable Richard Baloyi some years back.
  1. I am looking at a possibility of raising the issue again. It is something that interests me.

 

Reply received: May 2015

QUESTION NO. 1257

DATE OF PUBLICATION IN INTERNAL QUESTION PAPER: 17 APRIL 2015  

(INTERNAL QUESTION PAPER NO. 10)

Mrs C Dudley (ACDP) to ask the Minister of Health:

What are the statistics in each province with regard to termination of pregnancy as at the latest specified date for which information is available?

NW1465E

REPLY:

The following table reflects the details in this regard:

 

Province

January 2015

Eastern Cape

1,035

Free State

514

Gauteng

1,127

KwaZulu Natal

636

Limpopo

728

Mpumalanga

151

North West

644

Northern Cape

100

Western Cape

1,738

 

Reply received: May 2015

QUESTION NO. 1213

DATE OF PUBLICATION IN INTERNAL QUESTION PAPER: 27 MARCH 2015  

(INTERNAL QUESTION PAPER NO. 09)

Dr W G James (DA) to ask the Minister of Health:

(1)        With reference to his reply to question 2909 on 9 December 2014, whether he has received information with regard to the average percentage that was achieved by the students who passed; if not, when will this information be available; if so, what is the average percentage in respect of each university;

(2)        what is the average percentage that was achieved by the South African-trained doctors who passed the final exit exam in respect of each university;

(3)        whether any Cuban-trained medical students had failed the South African exit exam after their final year of training; if so, how many (a) medical students failed, (b) of the specified medical students have subsequently passed and (c) what is the status of the medical students who have not subsequently passed;

(4)        whether he has received any communication from (a) universities or (b) hospitals with regard to the quality of the training and/or education of the Cuban-trained doctors; if so, what has been the feedback?

NW1419E

REPLY:

  1. Honourable Member, we have never looked for this type of information from any medical student in South Africa. Our interest is whether the university – any university where they are studying, has passed them and the Health Professions Council of South Africa (HPCSA) has registered them. Beyond that we have no interest in any other information.
  1. As I said we have never looked for such information. It is of no relevance to our work. Universities are well placed to tell us whether a person has passed or not.
  1. The Cuban-based students write their final examination in South Africa and are subjected to the same rigours as any other student. They pass and/or fail like students in any other university.
  1. Cuban trained doctors are subjected to the same condition and standards of doctors trained elsewhere. We have never asked for specific information about them. Any doctor in our hospital has got a senior they report to. If there are any problems, such seniors will inform us.

 

Reply received: May 2015

QUESTION NO. 1130

DATE OF PUBLICATION IN INTERNAL QUESTION PAPER: 27 MARCH 2015  

(INTERNAL QUESTION PAPER NO. 09)

Mr A M Figlan (DA) to ask the Minister of Health:

(a) What amount did (i) his department and (ii) state entities reporting to him spend on each newspaper subscription in each month (aa) in the (aaa) 2011-12, (bbb) 2012-13 and (ccc) 2013-14 financial years and (bb) during the period 1 April 2014 up to the latest specified date for which information is available and (b) how many copies of each newspaper were ordered on each day of the week (i) in each specified financial year and (ii) during the period 1 April 2014 up to the latest specified date for which information is available?

NW1295E

REPLY:

The Tables below reflects the details in this regard:

 

  1. (i)         The National Department of Health

National Department of Health

Publication

 

(aa)

month

(aaa)

2011-12

(bbb)

2012-13

(ccc)

2013-14

(bb)

1 April-to date

R

R

R

R

 

Beeld

The Department

subscription per Annum

29.975

29,259

26,687

24,096

Business Day

153.244

 134,750

164,322

166,275

Citizen

27.064

 16,020

14,763

13,382

City Press

10.080

 20,589

18,720

17,803

Daily Sun

6.686

 7,580

9,970

5,763

Economist

2.870

 2,350

2,780

4,070

Beeld (Sat)

731

322.60

3,192

736

Citizen (Sat)

843

 846

763

976

Financial Mail

4.169

3,907

1,665

5,608

Financial Times

11.271

 9,114

14,602

11,424

Mail and Guardian

 

133.741

 146,643

159,111

143,576

Pretoria News

87.186

 98,588

97,232

82,930

Sowetan

80.164

 83,284

80,437

76,464

Star

98.935

 99,762

106,417

98,923

New Age

11.019

15,278

15,902

14,421

Rapport

1.290

 1,319

2,842

1,764

Sunday Independent

7.155

10,009

13,640

13,498

Sunday Times

33.746

34,289

35,648

32,528

Star (Sat)

3.045

 3,778

2,666

2,368

Pretoria News (Sat)

1.580

 1,887

1,440

1,012

Sunday Sun

1.087

 1,620

3,776

2,588

Sunday World

2.295

2,527

4,008

4,026

Cape Argus

6.126

 6,951

17,770

9,210

Cape Times

5.476

544

17,486

14,736

The Times

2.702

3,902

4,039

6,016

Weekender

140

 0

0,00

0,00

Tribune

140

 140

0,00

0,00

Time Magazine

335

 702

1,353

1,232

News Week

314

 1,023

860

880

Star Africa

0,00

0,00

707

580

Financial Week

0,00

0,00

282

1,017

Total Per Financial Year

723.413

736.987

823,085

757,902

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(ii)         The South African Medical Research Council

The South African Medical Research Council

Publication

 

(aa)

month

(aaa)

2011-12

R

(bbb)

2012-13

R

(ccc)

2013-14

R

(bb)

1 April – to date

R

Sunday Times

April – March

Annual subscription paid in January

-

3, 906.20

 

-

(IOL) Cape Times

7, 089.22

-

-

-

1, 505.26

(IOL) Business Day

-

-

-

Total Per Financial year

7, 089.22

R3906.20

-

1505.26

The Council for Medical Schemes

Beeld

April – March

Annual Subscription

1,608

-

1,824

1,824

Business day

8,940

8,244

8,508

11,100

Citizen

2,088

304

1,824

2,244

City Press

468

396

-

732

Economist

-

1,668

1,668

1,668

Fin Week

996

828

1,212

1,212

Financial Mail

1,140

1,032

1,116

1,212

Mail & Guardian

3,216

-

2,988

5,340

Pretoria News

1,428

1,200

1,272

1,380

Sowetan

2,292

1,788

1,884

1,884

Sunday Times

 

1,812

1,692

876

876

The Star

4,920

4,440

4,800

5,256

The Star - Saturday

372

396

408

456

Total Per Financial Year

29,280

21,988

28,380

35,184

National Health Laboratory Service

 

  •  
  •  
  •  
  •  
  •  
  •  
  •  
  •  
  •  
  •  
  •  
  •  
  •  
  •  
  •  
  •  
  •  
  •  
  •  
  •  
  •  
  •  
  •  
  •  
  •  
  •  
  •  
  •  
  •  
  •  
  •  
  •  
  •  
  •  
  •  
  •  
  •  
  •  
  •  
  •  
  •  
  •  
  •  
  •  
  •  
  •  
  •  
  •  
  •  
  •  
  •  
  •  
  •  
  •  
  •  
  •  
  •  
  •  
  • No information available from NHLS
  • The Office of Health Standards Compliance was still under the National department of Health during the period under review.
  1. The National Department of Health

National Department of Health

 

 

 

(i) Day of the week 

2011-12

 

No. Of Publication  ordered

(i) Day of the week 

(ii)

2011-12

              (ii)

    2012-13

(ii)

2013-14

(ii)

1 April 2014 – to date

City Press

Sundays

       52

       52

        -  

          52

Sunday Times

     104

     104

     104

        104

Beeld

Monday

       52

        -  

       52

          52

Business day

     156

     156

     156

        156

Citizen

     104

     104

     104

        104

Pretoria News

       52

       52

       52

          52

Sowetan

     104

     104

     104

        104

The Star

     156

     156

     156

        156

Economist

        -  

       52

       52

          52

Beeld

Tuesday

       52

        -  

       52

          52

Business day

     156

     156

     156

        156

Citizen

     104

     104

     104

        104

Pretoria News

       52

       52

       52

          52

Sowetan

     104

     104

     104

        104

The Star

     156

     156

     156

        156

Beeld

Wednesday

       52

        -  

       52

          52

Business day

     156

     156

     156

        156

Citizen

     104

     104

     104

        104

Pretoria News

       52

       52

       52

          52

Sowetan

     104

     104

     104

        104

The Star

     156

     156

     156

        156

Financial Mail

       52

       52

       52

          52

Beeld

Thursday

       52

        -  

       52

          52

Business day

     156

     156

     156

        156

Citizen

     104

     104

     104

        104

Pretoria News

       52

       52

       52

          52

Sowetan

     104

     104

     104

        104

No. Of Publication  ordered

(ii)

              (ii)

    2012-13

(ii)

2013-14

(ii)

1 April 2014 – to date

The Star

 

     156

     156

     156

        156

Fin Week

       52

       52

       52

          52

Beeld

Friday

       52

        -  

       52

          52

Business day

     156

     156

     156

        156

Citizen

     104

     104

     104

        104

Pretoria News

       52

       52

       52

          52

Sowetan

     104

     104

     104

        104

The Star

     156

     156

     156

        156

Mail & Guardian

     156

        -  

     156

        156

The Star

Saturday

       52

       52

       52

          52

Total Per Financial year

   3,588

   3,224

   3,588

     3,640

 

          (ii)         Entities

The South African Medical Research Council

No. Of Publication  ordered

(i) Day of the week 

(ii)

2011-12

(ii)             

2012-13

(ii)

2013-14

(ii)

1 April 2014 – to date

Sunday Times

Sundays

 

52

 

 

(IOL) Cape Times

Mondays

260

 

 

261

(IOL) Business Day

260

 

 

261

Total Per Financial year

 

520

52

 

522

The Council for Medical Schemes

 

City Press

Sundays

       52

       52

        -  

          52

Sunday Times

     104

     104

     104

        104

Beeld

Monday

       52

        -  

       52

          52

Business day

     156

     156

     156

        156

Citizen

     104

     104

     104

        104

Pretoria News

       52

       52

       52

          52

Sowetan

     104

     104

     104

        104

The Star

     156

     156

     156

        156

Economist

        -  

       52

       52

          52

Beeld

Tuesday

       52

        -  

       52

          52

Business day

     156

     156

     156

        156

Citizen

     104

     104

     104

        104

Pretoria News

       52

       52

       52

          52

Sowetan

     104

     104

     104

        104

The Star

     156

     156

     156

        156

Beeld

Wednesday

       52

        -  

       52

          52

Business day

     156

     156

     156

        156

Citizen

     104

     104

     104

        104

Pretoria News

       52

       52

       52

          52

Sowetan

     104

     104

     104

        104

The Star

     156

     156

     156

        156

Financial Mail

       52

       52

       52

          52

Beeld

Thursday

       52

        -  

       52

          52

Business day

     156

     156

     156

        156

Citizen

     104

     104

     104

        104

Pretoria News

       52

       52

       52

          52

Sowetan

     104

     104

     104

        104

The Star

     156

     156

     156

        156

Fin Week

       52

       52

       52

          52

Beeld

Friday

       52

        -  

       52

          52

Business day

     156

     156

     156

        156

Citizen

     104

     104

     104

        104

Pretoria News

       52

       52

       52

          52

Sowetan

     104

     104

     104

        104

The Star

     156

     156

     156

        156

Mail & Guardian

     156

        -  

     156

        156

The Star

Saturday

       52

       52

       52

          52

Total Per Financial year

   3,588

   3,224

   3,588

     3,640

National Health Laboratory Service

 

  • No information available from NHLS
  • The Office of Health Standards Compliance was still under the National Department of Health during the period under review.

 

Reply received: April 2015

NATIONAL ASSEMBLY QUESTION NO. 977 FOR WRITTEN REPLY

977. Ms V van Dyk (DA) to ask the Minister of Health:


(a) How many government hospitals in, (i) Namaqualand and (ii) Kleinzee were closed in the past five financial years, and in each case, what is the (aa) name, (bb) location and (cc) reason for the closure of each specified hospital?

REPLY:
(i) In Namakwa there are 2 district hospitals; Dr van Niekerk Hosp in Springbok and Abraham Esau Hosp in Calvinia. No public hospital was closed in the Namakwa District during the past 10 or more years.

(ii) Kleinzee Hospital is a private facility owned by De Beers Mining Company and was closed due to the down scaling of the mining activities in Kleinzee.

(aa) - (bb) The Department has no record of any Government Hospitals that have closed in Namaqualand nor in Kleinzee.

(cc) The only Hospital in Namakwa or in Kleinzee that closed in the past 5 years is the Private Hospital which is still owned by De Beers. In this regard there is an engagement process for the facility to be donated to the Northern Cape Department of Health.

The facility was closed due to De Beers scaling down their operations and moving their staff to other business units across SA and Southern Africa.
 

 

Reply received: May 2015

QUESTION NO. 936

DATE OF PUBLICATION IN INTERNAL QUESTION PAPER: 20 MARCH 2015  

(INTERNAL QUESTION PAPER NO. 08)

Ms J F Terblanche (DA) to ask the Minister of Health:

With regard to claims being instituted against the (a) Potchefstroom Hospital and (b) all clinics in the Potchefstroom District in the (i) 2011-12, (ii) 2012-13 and (iii) 2013-14 financial years, (aa) against whom was each of the claims instituted and (bb) what (aaa) was the date of each of the claims, (bbb) was the nature of each individual claim, (ccc) amount was claimed in each case and (ddd) is the status of each of the claims?

NW1094E

REPLY:

According to the North West Provincial Department of Health, the response is as follows:

In 2009/10:        There was one (1) claim for R1,802,640.00. The Provincial Department filed their plea and requested State Attorney to inform the other side to translate their pre-trial minutes in English.

In 2010/11:        There were seven (7) claims against the Department. Out of these –

  • two (2) claims have prescribed and the files closed;
  • two (2) cases have been settled for R75,000.00 and R7,246,091.00 respectively;
  • filed pleas for two (2) cases;
  • awaiting summons on 1 case.

In 2011/12: There were three (3) claims for negligence against the Department. Out of these –

  • one (1) claim has prescribed and file closed; and
  • filed pleas for two (2) remaining claims

In 2012/13: There was only one (1) claim against the Department which was settled out of court in the amount of R328,803.12.

In 2013/14: Four (4) incidents of negligence were reported by the Hospital but the Department has not received any summons.

 

Reply received:  April 2015

Parliamentary Question 711 (No NW859E) of 2015 for Written Reply
Mr P G Atkinson (DA) to ask Minister of Health:


Does his department have any plans in place to convert the Lenasia South Community Centre into a 24-hour hospital; if not, are there any other plans in place for a 24-hour health facility in Lenasia; if so, when is such conversion set to take place?

Reply
Yes.

There are plans to upgrade the Lenasia South Community Health Centre into a 250 bedded district hospital. These plans are still in the design phase.

In the mean time there are plans to have seventy six (76) step down beds activated in the Community Health Center and a 24 hour casualty and an emergency service.

The project for the step down beds is at an advanced stage and it is planned that the patients will be admitted by 01 June 2015.

Minor renovations are currently underway in the casualty and emergency area.

It is envisaged that provision of 24 hour emergency services will thus commence on 01 October 2015.

 

Reply received: May 2015

QUESTION NO. 702

DATE OF PUBLICATION IN INTERNAL QUESTION PAPER: 13 MARCH 2015  

(INTERNAL QUESTION PAPER NO. 07)

Mr I M Ollis (DA) to ask the Minister of Health:

(1)        Are any (a) doctors and/or (b) nurses employed by his department currently under suspension; if so, (a) how many and (b) in each case, (i) for what duration, (ii) what are their names, (iii) what are their positions and (vi) where are they employed;

(2)        (a) how many of the suspended (i) doctors and (ii) nurses are still receiving salaries and (b) in each case, what are their salaries?

NW850E

REPLY:

Honourable Member must bear with me. This information is only obtainable from individual institutions and provinces and I am still busy collecting the relevant information.

 

Reply received: April 2015

QUESTION NO. 624

DATE OF PUBLICATION IN INTERNAL QUESTION PAPER: 06 MARCH 2015  

(INTERNAL QUESTION PAPER NO. 05)

Dr H C Volmink (DA) to ask the Minister of Health:

(1)        (a) What is the total amount of patient complaints that were submitted in each state tertiary hospital in (i) 2009, (ii) 2010, (iii) 2011, (iv) 2012, (v) 2013 and (vi) 2014 and (b) how many were resolved in each year and at each hospital;

(2)        what was the average time period from the lodging of the complaint to its resolution at each hospital in each year;

(3)        how many of these complaints involved adverse events as described in the National Core Standards for Health Establishments in South Africa, 2011, at each hospital in each year?

NW705E

REPLY:

  1. See annexure A for the total number of complaints received for each Tertiary Hospital per year as well as the number resolved. The data was extracted from the District Health Information System (DHIS).

 

Note that data is incomplete for the time period 2009 to 2012. The National Complaints Management Protocol was approved in August 2013 and training were conducted in all provinces since the beginning of 2013.

           

Table 1 below contains a summary of all the data elements for complaints as well as the indicators for complaints

 

Table 1: Summary of data elements and indicators for all Tertiary Hospitals

Data elements and Indicators

2014

2013

2012

2011

2010

2009

TOTAL

Total # complaints received

 

3542

3499

2196

2221

1248

 -

12706

Total # complaints resolved

 

3005

2067

1356

629

70

 -

7127

Total # of complaints resolved within 25 working days

2891

1789

966

749

261

 -

6656

Average % resolved

 

85%

59%

62%

28%

6%

 -

56%

Average % resolved within 25 working days

96%

87%

71%

119%

373%

 -

93%

 

  1. According to National Complaint Management Protocol that was approved in Aug 2013 by the Director General of Health, two indicators on complaints are collected; percentage of complaints resolved and percentage of complaints resolved within 25 working days. Therefore data on the average length to resolve complaints are not collected; only data on the percentage of complaints resolved within 25 working days are collected.  See table 1 for a summary of the percentage of complaints resolved within 25 working days. Annexure A contains detailed information on each hospital in this regard.

 

  1. The indicators that are collected does not include data on how many complaints were identified as adverse events. The National Complaints Management Protocol does however prescribe that a complaint should be closed “if it becomes apparent at any stage of the complaint management process that the complaint is in reality a serious adverse event which requires to be managed as such, i.e. through serious adverse event management processes. Should the latter be the case, the reference number assigned to it in the adverse event register must also be recorded in the Complaints’ Register”. The type of resolution must then be noted down as “adverse event”. The National Department of Health is in the process to investigate the possibility of developing a web based application that will be able to collect such data in future.

 

 

Reply received: May 2015

QUESTION NO. 622

DATE OF PUBLICATION IN INTERNAL QUESTION PAPER: 06 MARCH 2015  

(INTERNAL QUESTION PAPER NO. 05)

Dr H C Volmink (DA) to ask the Minister of Health:

What was the average waiting time for elective operations at each state tertiary hospital in the (a) 2009, (b) 2010, (c) 2011, (d) 2012, (e) 2013 and (f) 2014 calendar years?

NW703E

REPLY:

Honourable Member, your question is too non-specific. Which elective operations are you referring to? Am I expected to talk non-specifically about every single procedure performed in every hospital. Please be specific to help me to answer you.

 

Reply received: May 2015

QUESTION NO. 621

DATE OF PUBLICATION IN INTERNAL QUESTION PAPER: 06 MARCH 2015  

(INTERNAL QUESTION PAPER NO. 05)

Dr W G James (DA) to ask the Minister of Health:

What amount is currently owed by each provincial government to the National Health Laboratory Service?

NW702E

REPLY:

The details are contained in the attached Annexure A. see the link: /files/RNW621A-150526.pdf

 

Reply received: April 2015

PARLIAMENTARY QUESTION NO 617 (NW698E) FOR MINISTER'S WRITTEN

Ms LV James (DA) to ask the Minister of Health:
Whether he has a plan to address the quality of dental care offered to the poor; if not, why not; if so, what are the relevant details?

REPLY
Yes.

1. The Department is currently providing school primary preventive oral health programmes to Quintile 1 and 2 schools in collaboration with the Department of Basic Education, as part of the Integrated School Health Programme (ISHP). The services consist of:

a. Dental screening;
b. Oral health education;
c. Tooth brushing sessions;
d. Tooth fissure sealant applications; and
e. Basic treatment services.

2. The Department has purchased Mobile Dental Clinics, equipped with dental equipment and instruments, for the NHI pilot districts, to provide oral health services to children at schools and areas that are difficult to reach. This serves to improve access to services to communities that are poor.

3. The Department conducts quarterly visits to facilities in districts and provinces to assess the quality of oral health services that are used by the poor. Reports with recommendations are then sent to relevant provinces to take remedial action where necessary. Such exercises help to improve quality of oral health services.

4. The Ideal Clinic initiative aims to include and improve oral health services at Primary Health Care Level by ensuring availability of appropriate infrastructure, equipment and human resources to render quality oral health services.

5. Placement of Community Service Dentists in rural areas and also to areas where there were no oral health services have increased and therefore the access to oral services has increased to poor communities.
 

Reply received: May 2015

QUESTION NO. 616

DATE OF PUBLICATION IN INTERNAL QUESTION PAPER: 06 MARCH 2015  

(INTERNAL QUESTION PAPER NO. 05)

Ms L V James (DA) to ask the Minister of Health:

Whether his department has a plan to remedy the insufficient early diagnosis of children with mental disabilities, especially those living in disadvantaged areas; if not, why not; if so, what are the relevant details?  

NW697E

REPLY:

Yes.

Interventions to remedy the insufficient early diagnosis of children with mental disabilities are contained in the National Mental Health Policy Framework and Strategic Plan 2013 – 2020, which was adopted by the National Health Council in July 2013.  This plan is at different levels of implementation in all nine provinces.

 

Reply received: May 2015

 

Reply received: May 2015

 

Reply received: April 2015

QUESTION NO. 492

DATE OF PUBLICATION IN INTERNAL QUESTION PAPER: 06 MARCH 2015  

(INTERNAL QUESTION PAPER NO. 05)

Ms D Carter (Cope) to ask the Minister of Health:

(1)        Whether he intends to recommend to the Department of Social Development that the CD 4 count for an HIV patient with a disability who receives a grant be raised from 350 to 600 so that the Department of Social Development’s ARV programme for HIV patients who are recipients of disability grants can achieve optimal outcomes; if not, why not; if so, (a) what will his department recommend to the Department of Social Development and (b) when will it happen;

(2)        whether he will make a statement on the ARV programme for HIV patients who are recipients of disability grants?

NW571E

REPLY:

(1)        The Department of Social Development/SASSA does not use the CD4 count as a criterion to assess eligibility for disability grants.  There is therefore no need to make a recommendation as proposed by the Honourable Member.

(2)        There is no need for a statement in this regard.

 

Reply received: April 2015

QUESTION NO. 491

DATE OF PUBLICATION IN INTERNAL QUESTION PAPER: 06 MARCH 2015  

(INTERNAL QUESTION PAPER NO. 05)

Ms D Carter (Cope) to ask the Minister of Health:

(1)        Whether the intensive campaigns from 2008 to 2014 to combat HIV and AIDS had shown a substantial year-on-year decrease in new HIV infections; if not, why not; if so, what are the relevant details;

(2)        whether such campaigns gave the country’s youth sufficient knowledge on HIV transmission to better and more effectively protect themselves; if not, what is the position in this regard; if so, what are the relevant details;

(3)        whether such campaigns encouraged an ever-increasing number of people to test for HIV in order to allow his department to have a better understanding of where to target its efforts; if not, what is the position in this regard; if so, what are the relevant details;

(4)        whether his department encouraged (a) NGOs, (b) educational institutions, (c) business and (d) media to amplify the Government’s efforts in order to get a greater purchase from the campaign; if not, why not; if so, what are the relevant details;

(5)        whether he has found that such campaigns dissuaded a significant number of young females from having relations with older men for money; if not, what is the position in this regard; if so, what are the relevant details?

NW570E

REPLY:

(1)        The Department of Health does not measure incidences annually.  The most recent survey that conducted incidence testing was the 2012 HSRC Household Survey.  The HSRC estimated incidence rates as follows:

            15-24 year olds        2005 – 2008        =   2.3%

                                           2012 = 1.5%

 

            15-49 year olds        2005 – 2008        =   1.9%

                                           2012 = 1.72%

            The largest decline was in young females 15 – 24 years old

            2002 – 2005 = 5.3%

            2008 – 2012 = 2.1%.

(2)        The campaigns by the Department of Health target all sectors of the Community.  In addition the Department of Health funds loveLife and Soul City to focus specifically on the youth.  These programmes are in addition to the Department of Basic Education’s Life Skills programme.  

(3)        Such campaigns do increase HIV testing rates – between 2010 and 2012 for example 20 million South Africans tested for HIV.

(4)        NGOs, educational institutions, businesses etc are represented in the South African National Aids Council (SANAC).  The SANAC Secretariat works with all sectors to increase testing rates.  The Department of Health with the SANAC Secretariat has re-established the “Nerve Centre” to co-ordinate and accelerate efforts by all sectors to increase HIV testing rates.

 

(5)        Whilst Anti “Sugar Daddy” campaigns have been run in provinces like KwaZulu-Natal – there is as yet no emperial evidence that they have succeeded.  However efforts to inform young women of the dangers of intergenerational sex will continue.

 

Reply received: April 2015

QUESTION NO. 460

DATE OF PUBLICATION IN INTERNAL QUESTION PAPER: 27 FEBRUARY 2015  

(INTERNAL QUESTION PAPER NO. 04)

Dr H C Volmink (DA) to ask the Minister of Health:

(1)        Whether any of the buildings listed in his reply to question 1783 on 8 August 2013, are still national key points; if not, (a) why not and (b) when were they removed as national key points;

(2)        were any other buildings under the administration of (a) his department and (b) entities reporting to him declared national key points since his reply to the specified question; if so, (i) which buildings, (ii) when were the buildings declared as such and (iii) what criteria were used to classify them as such?

NW538E

REPLY:

(1)        (a)    Yes, all buildings as in the response to questions 1 783 of 8 August 2014 are still regarded as the national key points.

(2)        (a) & (b)       No other buildings under the administration of this department nor Entities are declared as national key points since the  reply to question 1 783.

 

QUESTION NO. 443

DATE OF PUBLICATION IN INTERNAL QUESTION PAPER: 27 FEBRUARY 2015  

(INTERNAL QUESTION PAPER NO. 04)

Dr W G James (DA) to ask the Minister of Health:

What amount was (a) budgeted for and (b) actually spent by (i) his department and (ii) each provincial department of health on litigation (aa) in the (aaa) 2011-12, (bbb) 2012-13 and (ccc) 2013-14 financial years and (bb) since 1 March 2014?

NW519E

REPLY:

  1. (i)         National Department of Health

 

No.

Financial Year

Amount

(aaa)

2011/2012

R30 554 000.00

(bbb)

2012/2013

R6 149 000.00

(ccc)

2013/2014

R4 587 000.00

(bb)

2014/2015

R5 160 000.00

(ii)        Limpopo Department of Health

No.

Financial Year

Amount

(aaa)

2011/2012

R2 163 000.00

(bbb)

2012/2013

R7 000 000.00

(ccc)

2013/2014

R5 000 000.00

(bb)

2014/2015

R44 979 000.00

Free State Department of Health

The Department does not budget for litigation, only budget for legal costs. Damages are paid from the suspense account at Loss Control.

North West Department of Health

 

No.

Financial Year

Amount

(aaa)

2011/2012

R160 306.00

(bbb)

2012/2013

R5 481 155.00

(ccc)

2013/2014

R8 627 455.00

(bb)

2014/2015

R10 143 311.00

                        Mpumalanga Department of Health

No.

Financial Year

Amount

(aaa)

2011/2012

R9 000 000.00

(bbb)

2012/2013

R9 540 000.00

(ccc)

2013/2014

R10 224 000.00

(bb)

2014/2015

R10 838 000.00

          

                                    Northern Cape Department of Health

No.

Financial Year

Amount

(aaa)

2011/2012

Not available

(bbb)

2012/2013

Not available

(ccc)

2013/2014

R4 164 000.00

(bb)

2014/2015

R2 269 000.00

Eastern Cape Department of Health

The Department does not budget for legal claims. Each institution pays for the incident that took place in the said institution.

(b)        (i)         National Department of Health

No.

Financial Year

Amount

(aaa)

2011/2012

R34 963 642.96

(bbb)

2012/2013

R14 591 772.64

(ccc)

2013/2014

R4 019 425.11

(bb)

2014/2015

R3 590 903.37

 

(ii)        Limpopo Department of Health

No.

Financial Year

Amount

(aaa)

2011/2012

R3 863 017.12

(bbb)

2012/2013

R7 308 503.41

(ccc)

2013/2014

R20 116 859.24

(bb)

2014/2015

R30 871 283.16

                     

Free State Department of Health

 

No.

Financial Year

Amount

(aaa)

2011/2012

R5 473 097.65

(bbb)

2012/2013

R2 935 534.00

(ccc)

2013/2014

R673 373.00

(bb)

2014/2015

R16 500 000.00

North West Department of Health

 

No.

Financial Year

Amount

(aaa)

2011/2012

R753 602.57

(bbb)

2012/2013

R7 899 232.50

(ccc)

2013/2014

R12 959 528.18

(bb)

2014/2015

R25 119 377.36

           

Mpumalanga Department of Health

 

No.

Financial Year

Amount

(aaa)

2011/2012

R17 614 054.79

(bbb)

2012/2013

R11 310 058.70

(ccc)

2013/2014

R44 408 386.64

(bb)

2014/2015

R5 529 663.88

 

                                               Northern Cape Department of Health

 

No.

Financial Year

Settlement amount of Litigation claims

(aaa)

2011/2012

R10 287 277.90

(bbb)

2012/2013

R218 560.00

(ccc)

2013/2014

R12 249 662.00

(bb)

2014/2015

R6 132 184.49

 

                                                                       Eastern Cape Department of Health

 

No.

Financial Year

Settlement amount of Litigation claims

(aaa)

2011/2012

R68 558 445.27

(bbb)

2012/2013

R94 689 268.23

(ccc)

2013/2014

R134 570 588.97

(bb)

2014/2015

R91 942 415.20

         

                                    KwaZulu-Natal Department of Health

No.

Financial Year

Settlement amount of Litigation claims

(aaa)

2011/2012

R49, 221, 493.92

(bbb)

2012/2013

R56, 806, 519.72

(ccc)

2013/2014

R208, 460, 451.50

(bb)

2014/2015 (as at 6.03.2015)

R209, 054, 884.73

 

Reply received: May 2015

QUESTION NO. 442

DATE OF PUBLICATION IN INTERNAL QUESTION PAPER: 27 FEBRUARY 2015  

(INTERNAL QUESTION PAPER NO. 04)

Dr W G James (DA) to ask the Minister of Health:

(1)        What is the (a) maternal mortality ratio per 100 000 live births and (b) actual number of maternal deaths in each province for the most recent three years for which information is available;

(2)        in each province, how many of the deceased mothers were teenage mothers?

NW518E

REPLY:

  1. According to the South African Medical Research Council (SAMRC) the Maternal Mortality Ratio (MMR) was as follows:

2009:                302/100,000

2010:                267/100,000

2011:                197/100,000

 

  1. Maternal deaths of young women <18 years of age are as follows:

 

AGE

PROVINCE

NUMBER

10-17

Eastern Cape

28

Free State

13

Gauteng

22

KwaZulu Natal

37

Limpopo

20

Mpumalanga

14

North West

4

Northern Cape

2

Western Cape

5

TOTAL

147

 

Reply received: June 2015 
 

QUESTION NO. 441

Dr W G James (DA) to ask the Minister of Health:

(1)        What are the (a) relevant details of the eight work streams into which the work of the Operation Phakisa: Ideal Clinic Initiative was organised and (b)(i) 184 elements and (ii) 10 components which were identified for an ideal clinic concept;

(2)        (a) which other government departments are involved in the ideal clinics initiative and (b) what is the role of each department;

(3)        what are the relevant details of the measures developed by the infrastructure team to ensure the realisation of ideal clinics by 2017;

(4)        are there any time frames attached to the specified measures; if not, why not; if so, what are the relevant deadlines;

(5)        (a) what are the names of the 10 clinics on which his department is already working, (b) where are these clinics situated and (c) what progress has been made with each clinic?

NW517E 

REPLY:

(1)        (a)        The work of the Operation Phakisa: Ideal Clinic Initiative was organized into work streams which covered the supporting processes, resources and governance model required to scale up the ICRM initiative. These work streams will contribute to the overall aspiration of the health system to improve patient experience, and clinical and population health outcomes.

The details of eight work streams of Operations Phakisa Laboratory are as follows:

(i)          Service delivery

           The purpose of the service delivery aspect is to assess patients’ views/perceptions about the service that is being provided to them so to       inform service delivery improvement. This was about the manner in which the services can be organized.

                        (ii)         Waiting Time

           This work stream worked on the need to review the time the patient takes before being seen or attended to at the clinic level. The time it takes for a patient to be attended satisfactorily at PHC clinics is a key determinant of quality.  Acceptable waiting times still remain a key challenge at PHC facilities. The work stream also addressed the questions such as the variables that negatively affect waiting times and how they should be addressed?

                        (ii)         Human Resources for Health

           This work stream worked on various models that would best support the delivery of health services at clinic level. The models were informed by the World Health Organization tool, Workload Indicators for Staffing Need (WISN) work that had been done in the clinics, focusing on the NHI pilot districts. Health care delivery is a labour intensive service, and as such it requires adequate and appropriately trained human resources in terms of numbers, competencies and skills mix. This was seen as a fundamental requirement for effective and efficient service delivery. 

                        (iii)        Financial Management

           The work here was about how best to improve financial management in such a way that the PHC facilities do not run out of essential supplies long before the end of the financial year. Provinces and districts in many areas start to experience cash-flow problems long before the end of the financial year.

This leads to the absence of key equipment and supplies at clinics (essential      clinical stationery, cleaning material, medication, diagnostic equipment and supplies, the ability to order lab tests etc).  This work stream identified the   bottlenecks that lead to these weaknesses.

                        (iv)        Supply Chain Management

           The systems for supply and monitoring of medicines and other commodities currently in use, are not designed to function in a way which supports uninterrupted access to essential medicines and supplies. The work stream focused on how to improve supply chain management for supply of all essential items. During the study phase of the Ideal Clinic, the ordering and timely receipt of supplies proved to be the biggest barrier to service delivery even when there was a budget available.

                      (v)        Infrastructure

The work stream looked at infrastructure as one determinant of quality. The infrastructure of a clinic (physical infrastructure, medical equipment, ICT, security and bulk supplies) is the most fundamental component for a PHC facility to function optimally. The work of the laboratory was to look at various ways in which the construction and maintenance of the facilities can be improved.

                        (vi)        Institutional Arrangements

           The issue of Institutional arrangements arises from the fact that in terms of Schedule 4 of South Africa’s Constitution, health service delivery is a concurrent function between the National and Provincial spheres of government. The Constitution also provides for the autonomy of Provinces. A consensus-based decision-making and policy development approach is used in the health sector, through the National Health Council (NHC), the highest decision-making body. This work stream looked at how cooperation between national and provincial health departments could be improved to enhance service delivery to communities.

(vii)       Scale up and sustainability 

           The key question that the work stream dealt with was how will the Ideal Clinic       Initiative be scaled up to all facilities in South Africa, and how improvements will be sustained.

(b)        (i)         During the study phase of the Ideal Clinic (July 2013 to February 2014) four nurse doctor teams worked with management and staff from 10 clinics (Tswane, GertSibande, Thabo Mofutsanyana, Umgungundlovu) to determine the requirements for a fully functional PHC clinic. The study arrived at 10 components, 32 sub-components and a number of     elements per sub-component. The number of elements fluctuated over the study phase between 180 and 210. This fluctuation was caused by debate on whether certain elements are the responsibility of clinic management or not. In the end it was decided to put all relevant   elements onto the dashboard, indicating whether they are facility, district, provincial or national responsibilities. There are currently 206 elements on the dashboard.

           (ii)         The 10 components which were identified for an ideal clinic concept are    as follows:

  1. Administration
  2. Integrated Clinical Services Management
  3. Pharmaceutical and Laboratory services
  4. Human Resources for Health
  5. Support Services
  6. Infrastructure
  7. Health Information Management
  8. Communication
  9. District Health System Support 
  10. Partners and Stakeholders

(2)        (a) and (b)

The other government departments (that were involved in the ideal clinic initiative) and their roles are set out as follows:

(i) Departments of Public Works

           The Department of Public Works (DPW) is the custodian of government buildings. Their role is on guidance and support on the construction of health infrastructure. Health infrastructure has been found to play a key role in the process of transforming         primary care facilities in the public sector into ideal clinics. Provincial Public Works departments are expected to play a key role in the construction and maintenance of clinics. It was therefore iportant that the DPW participate in Operation Phakisa.

(ii)         Department of Roads and Transport

           The Department of Roads and Transport (DoRT) are involved in providing physical access to clinics, and in some Provinces in the purchase and maintenance of Emergency Medical Services (EMS) vehicles and Patient Transport. Ideal Clinics must be accessible to communities.

(iii)        Department of Public Service Administration (DPSA)

           The DPSA provides the policy framework that governs the recruitment, appointment and conduct of health care providers in the clinics. One of the outputs of the Operation Phakisa Ideal Cinic deals with a documented accountability and discipline framework to be adopted by employers and employee representatives. The DPSA has a key role to play in this process.

(iv)        Local Government

           Although PHC services have largely been taken over by the provinces, there are still clinics that belong to municipalities, particularly in the metropolitan municipalities. It is important that local government shares the vision of the national and provincial DoHs for the creation of ideal clinics.  Municipalities employ the bulk of environmental health officers.  The work of environmental health officers contribute extensively to ensuring that social determinants of health have a positive impact on the health of South Africans. Examples of these are food safety, water quality and pest control.  Local Government is thus a key partner when it comes to providing          comprehensive health services.

(v) Department of Basic and Higher Education

           The cooperation between the Department of Basic Education and Health is of utmost importance to promote health and effect early detection to prevent the progression of conditions that hamper the development of school children.

(vi) Department of Human Settlements

          Adequate housing plays an important role as a social determinant in the health of South Africans. Tuberculosis is an example of a condition that is affected by individuals’ living conditions.

(vii) National Treasury

           Representatives from National Treasury participated in the Lab so that Treasury could have an understanding of the resource requirements for getting clients to function optimally.

(3)        Every province has an infrastructure plan that contains the details of new            clinics that need to be built as well as those that need major refurbishment. For sustained improvements, preventative maintenance also needs to happen as required. For this reason the provincial health departments will (where             these do not already exist), establish District Infrastructure Maintenance hubs and streamline supply chain management to address the requirements of these hubs.
(4)        There are deadlines attached to the activities of the Operation Phakisa.  These are in the detailed plans that every work stream produced.

(5)        (a) and (b)

The Department has been working in ten clinics as study sites to test the ideal clinic realization. These were tested using the ideal clinic dashboard. The clinics are:

Name of clinic

District

Province

Ga-Rankuwa View; 

KT Motubatse, Mamelodi West and Jack Hindon clinics

Tshwane Health District

Gauteng

Richmond; Phatheni and Efaye clinics

UMgungundlovu

KwaZulu Natal

Breyton and Nthoroane clinics

Gert Sibande

Mpumalanga

Ladybrand Clinic

Thabo Mofutsanyana

Free State

(5)        (c)        These clinics have been used as study sites for implementation of the ideal         clinic realization model. Two separate tables below depict the results of these            clinics. The tables are separated since the second inspection by the Office of        Health Standards Compliance was done at different time periods.

OHSC RESULTS FOR IDEAL CLINIC LEARNING SITES 

FACILITIES

1ST ROUND AUGUST, SEPT 2013

2ND ROUND NOV 2013

KT MOTUBATSE

47%

82%

LADYBRAND

49%

77%

NTHOROANE

38%

49%

BREYTEN

55%

56%

RICHMOND

60%

72%

OHSC RESULTS FOR IDEAL CLINIC LEARNING SITES
 

FACILITIES

1ST ROUND AUGUST, SEPT 2013

2ND ROUND JAN,FEB 2014

EFAYE

68%

71%

PHATHENI

49%

52%

JACK HINDON

49%

66%

MAMELODI WEST

65%

69%

GARANKUWA VIEW

73%

77%

 

Reasons for some of these clinics not making good progress are the following:

 

  1. Need for major structural refurbishment – Jack Hindon
  2. Major repairs required (plumbing, gardening) and poor storage of hardcopy files
  3. Population numbers to be served by clinic is staggeringly large – Mamelodi West. The building of a second clinic to relieve the patient load is being planned by the City of Tshwane
  4. Poor district management support  - Nthoroane and Breyton.

Slugging supply chain systems at district level makes progress for the clinics very slow. Issues pertaining to an improving supply chain management at health facilities are being addressed through a project with National Treasury.

 

END.

 

 

Reply received: APRIL 2015

PARLIAMENTARY QUESTION 398 (NW473E) FOR WRITTEN REPLY
Mr W M Madisha (Cope) to ask the Minister of Health:

( 1 Whether, in view of the fact that sugar was recognised by the medical profession and scientists as being at the bottom of every country's priorities, yet resulting in rapidly increasing health problems (details furnished), the government will use the remainder of 2015 to take urgent and proactive measures to:

(a) introduce sugar tax,
(b) compel all food manufacturers to reduce sugar content,
(c) require a graphic representation on how many teaspoons of sugar is in the packaged products, and
(d) heighten public awareness through all means at its disposal of the nutritional deficiencies and serious dangers of an individual consuming more than the recommended amount of sugar per day; if not, why not; if so what are the relevant details.

(2) Whether he will make a statement on addressing excessive consumption of sugar, both through habit and ignorance of its dangers?

REPLY

(1) (a) Government is currently looking at all available evidence relating to sugar taxation including lessons that can be learned from countries that have already introduced a sugar tax. A decision will be taken once all evidence has been considered.

(1) (b)The recently released WHO guidelines, recommends adults and children to reduce their daily intake of free sugars to less than 10% of their total energy intake. The Department has developed a nutrient profiling system which will assist industry to reformulate their products so that this goal can be reached.
The Department has initiated a dialogue with food manufacturers to reduce free sugars in processed foods. Should sugar levels not be sufficiently reduced using this collaborative approach, other options will be considered.

REPLY

(1) (c) Existing labeling regulations make provision for a front-of-pack labelling option which include declaring sugar content in food. New draft regulations that were published for public comment, propose that the front of pack label uses a Robot system which depicts the following; red (dangerous), yellow (caution) and green (safe). This proposal may be further developed into an even simpler format which simply includes the name of the nutrient, e.g. sugar and a graphic representation of a typical household measure such as a teaspoon. These regulations will be finalised once all submissions have been assessed.

(1) (d) A comprehensive communication plan has been developed to provide the public with information about healthy lifestyles. A service provider is being sourced to implement the plan. The communication plan will address priority health programmes including creating awareness on obesity as a risk factor for Non Communicable Diseases. Sugar intake and its impacts will be one of the areas covered by the campaign.

(2) Whether he will make a statement on addressing excessive consumption of sugar, both through habit and ignorance of its dangers?

Reply:


(2) Yes. An obesity strategy is currently being finalized and when it is launched statements concerning weight reduction, including reduced use of sugar, will be made.
 

 

 

Reply received: April 2015

QUESTION NO. 378

DATE OF PUBLICATION IN INTERNAL QUESTION PAPER: 27 FEBRUARY 2015  

(INTERNAL QUESTION PAPER NO. 04)

Dr H C Volmink (DA) to ask the Minister of Health:

With reference to appeals made to the Mental Health Review Boards against decisions of the heads of health establishments in terms of assisted care, treatment and rehabilitation of mental care users, how many appeals were (a) lodged and (b) successful in (i) 2004, (ii) 2005, (iii) 2006, (iv) 2007, (v) 2008, (vi) 2009, (vii) 2010, (viii) 2011, (ix) 2012, (x) 2013 and (xi) 2014?

NW382E

REPLY:

Data regarding appeals is only available from 2005 due to the fact that Mental Health Review Boards were established from 2005 following promulgation of the Mental Health Care Act No. 17 of 2002 in December 2004.  The attached table (Annexure A) provides data obtained from each of the nine provinces.

 

Reply received: April 2015

QUESTION NO. 363

DATE OF PUBLICATION IN INTERNAL QUESTION PAPER: 20 FEBRUARY 2015  

(INTERNAL QUESTION PAPER NO. 02)

Mr M W Rabotapi  (DA) to ask the Minister of Health:

(1)      With reference to the rat infestation at Thembisa Hospital (details furnished) in Johannesburg, Gauteng, (a) when was the rat infestation first reported and (b) what are the reasons for the rat infestation;

(2)      whether he intends to take action to eradicate the rat infestation; if not, why not; if so, what are the relevant details?

NW391E

REPLY:

  1. (a)        It was reported in-house when identified on the 19th of October 2014.

(b)        Littering and left-over food from vendors in front of hospital and disposal of waste by residents in an informal settlement that is adjacent the hospital.

  1. Yes, a pest control service provider has been appointed for the hospital with the sole purpose of eliminating the rodents. The Department will further conduct education to the food vendors and staff on how to dispose of leftover foodstuffs, because these are responsible for the increase in rodent infestation.

The Department is working with Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Municipality (EMM) on the programme to eradicate the rodents. The initiative will be rolled out into the hospital and other facilities.

Engagement has been made to have a forum with EMM Rodent Control unit under Environmental Health to assist outside the hospital, and the forum will include all other stakeholders affected and interested in controlling rodents i.e. vendors representatives, waste management, rodent control of EMM, pest control (service provider in hospital) and economic development (EMM) etc.

 

Reply received: April 2015

QUESTION NO. 354

DATE OF PUBLICATION IN INTERNAL QUESTION PAPER: 20 FEBRUARY 2015  

(INTERNAL QUESTION PAPER NO. 02)

Dr H C Volmink (DA) to ask the Minister of Health:

What is the average waiting time at each (a) district and (b) tertiary hospital at the (i) medical out-patient department, (ii) out-patient pharmacy and (iii) casualty or emergency department?

NW381E

REPLY:

(a), (b) (ii)          See attached Annexure A

(i), (ii)    The Department does not calculate the average out-patient and casualty waiting times on a provincial basis. There is no formal mechanism to monitor patient waiting times at provincial level. It is therefore not currently possible to detail patient waiting times accurately. The Department is aware of waiting times being a priority area, and have initiatives underway to deal with this issue on various levels.

 

Reply received: April 2015

QUESTION NO. 353

DATE OF PUBLICATION IN INTERNAL QUESTION PAPER: 20 FEBRUARY 2015  

(INTERNAL QUESTION PAPER NO. 02)

Dr H C Volmink (DA) to ask the Minister of Health:

What is the average waiting time for an ambulance for (a) priority one, (b) priority two and (c) priority three call-outs at each health district in the country?

NW380E

REPLY:

For the purpose of this reply the "average waiting time" as stated in the question is referred to as "response times." The definition of response times is from the time that the call is received to the arrival of the first emergency vehicle at the scene.

(a)        The District Health Information System (DHIS) is the source document for this reply as the provinces report on response times for priority 1 (P1) calls for urban and rural areas.  The P1 indicator is classified as rural response under 40 minutes and urban response under 15 minutes, for critically ill or injured patients. This is the only indicator for response times, that is presently being reported on the DHIS, from which the information herein below has been extrapolated.

The table below indicates figures of averaged response times per district over a period of 12 months from January to December 2014.

(b) and (c)         At this stage information on priority 2 and 3 calls are  not measured

 

Reply received: April 2015

QUESTION NO. 352

DATE OF PUBLICATION IN INTERNAL QUESTION PAPER: 20 FEBRUARY 2015  

(INTERNAL QUESTION PAPER NO. 02)

Dr W G James (DA) to ask the Minister of Health:

(1)        Whether there is a specific unit at the Health Professions Council of South Africa (HPCSA) to deal with the registration of foreign qualified health practitioners; if not, how is this process handled; if so, what are the responsibilities of the specified unit;

(2)        (a) how many persons are employed to administer the registration of foreign qualified health practitioners at the HPCSA and (b) what are the (i) names and (ii) qualifications of each employee;

(3)        (a) what is the (i) current number of applications of foreign qualified health practitioners awaiting registration and (ii) number of awaiting applicants in each category of health practitioners, (b) which countries are they from and (c) how many applications in each category are pending for a period of (i) up to 3 months, (ii) 3 to 6 months, (iii) 6 to 9 months, (iv) 9 to 12 months and (v) longer than a year?

NW379E

REPLY:

 

  1. The Medical and Dental Professions Board has a section to deal with all applications from foreign qualified practitioners as these applications are considered on an ad hoc basis. The unit is responsible for receiving applications, the screening of the applications for compliance, and the preparation of the applications for the Examinations Committee to consider. The unit also oversees the examination process which is aimed at ensuring that the applicant is meeting the minimum requirements for registration in order to be registered.

 

  1. (a)         There are twelve (12) administrative persons employed in the division to manage registration of practitioners in general, including the Medical and Dental applications from foreign qualified practitioners.

 

(b)        The following table presents the (i) names and (ii) qualifications of each employee:

 

(i) NAME

(ii) QUALIFICATION

Ms K Nkoane

National Diploma: Information Technology (Engineering, Built Environ & IT)

Mr J Dinake

B-tech: Public Management

Ms S Ndwalane

National Diploma: Electrical Engineering

Ms H Mlambo

National Diploma: Public Management

Ms T Nkosi

Secretarial Diploma

National Diploma in Office Management and Technology

Ms S Munyuku

National Diploma BCompt

Ms V Lukhozi

Masters in Public Health

Ms N Ntshangase 

CIS:  Corporate Governance and Administration

Ms J Seale

National Diploma in Office Management and Technology

Ms M Mokau

National Diploma in Commercial Practice

Ms N Hlatshwayo

National Diploma Human Resource Management

Certificate in Industrial Relations

Mr N Ntloko

Cert. in Communications

 

  1. (a)        (i)       Twenty Nine (29) applications are awaiting registration approval from the Supervisor: Registrations. This is referring to those applications found to be compliant and finalized by the Professional Boards.

 

(ii)      Twenty Five (25) applications are pending, as follows per category of health practitioners:

 

PROFESSIONAL BOARD/ CATEGORY

NUMBER OF AWAITING APPLICANTS

Psychology Board

2

Medical & Dental

8

Physiotherapy, Podiatry & Biokenetics

5

Occupation Therapy, Medical Orthotics, Prosthetics & Arts Therapy

2

Radiography & Clinical Technology

8

TOTAL

25

 

It must be noted that the above refers to pending applications awaiting Professional Board consideration, for example, where the applicants are still to write board examinations.

(b)        The twenty nine (29) applications awaiting registration approval from the Supervisor: Registrations were from the following countries:

  • Bangladesh
  • Belgium
  • Botswana
  • Democratic Republic of Congo
  • Germany
  • India
  • Kenya
  • Malawi
  • Nepal
  • Nigeria
  • Pakistan
  • Switzerland
  • United Kingdom
  • United States of America
  • Zimbabwe

The twenty Five (25) applications pending are from the following countries:

  • Bangladesh
  • Democratic Republic of Congo
  • Eritrea
  • Germany
  • India
  • Nigeria
  • Russia
  • United Kingdom
  • Zambia
  • Zimbabwe

It is important to note that the HPCSA receives non-compliant applications either via mail or hand delivery. These applications do not conform with the requirements of the Professional Boards and are therefore not considered and thus returned to the applicants, without processing.

(c)        The table below reflects the number of applications in each category pending for a period of (i) up to 3 months, (ii) 3 to 6 months, (iii) 6 to 9 months, (iv) 9 to 12 months and (v) longer than a year, as follows:   

           

(C) PROFESSIONAL BOARD/ CATEGORY

(I)

0-3 MONTHS

(II)

3-6 MONTHS

(III)

6-9 MONTHS

(IV)

9-12 MONTHS

(V) LONGER THAN A YEAR

Psychology Board

1

1

 

 

 

Medical & Dental

1

2

5

 

 

Physiotherapy, Podiatry & Biokenetics

5

 

 

 

 

Occupation Therapy, Medical Orthotics, Prosthetics & Arts Therapy

1

1

 

 

 

Radiography & Clinical Technology

8

 

 

 

 

Total

16

4

5

0

0

 

Reply received: May 2015

QUESTION NO. 351

DATE OF PUBLICATION IN INTERNAL QUESTION PAPER: 20 FEBRUARY 2015  

(INTERNAL QUESTION PAPER NO. 02)

Dr W G James (DA) to ask the Minister of Health:

(1)      With reference to his reply to oral question 53 on 3 September 2014, when will the legislation which will establish the National Public Health Institute be tabled in Parliament;

(2)      has any progress been made in terms of the solutions agreed to by the National Health Council; if not, why not; if so, what are the (a) relevant details and (b) time frames?        

NW378E

REPLY:

  1. The process of legislation to establish the National Public Health Institute of South Africa (NAPHISA) is on. It is now with the FOSAD (Forum of South African Directors-General) Cluster. From there it will go to Cabinet, then for public comment and eventually to Parliament.
  1. Yes, the process has started. From the 1st of April this year, NICD, Cancer Registry and NIOH are now funded directly from the fiscus. 

 

Reply received: April 2015

QUESTION NO. 350

DATE OF PUBLICATION IN INTERNAL QUESTION PAPER: 20 FEBRUARY 2015  

(INTERNAL QUESTION PAPER NO. 02)

Dr W G James (DA) to ask the Minister of Health:

(1)      How many (a) posts are established in each job category and (b) positions in each job category are currently vacant in each of the three national forensic chemistry laboratories;

(2)      (a) how many interns are currently working at each laboratory and (b) for how long has each intern been there;

(3)      (a) how many persons will be employed at the new laboratory in Durban in each job category and (b) when will the specified laboratory open?

NW377E

REPLY:

  1. (a) and (b)         Please refer to table 1 below:

Table 1

Forensic Chemistry Laboratory Cape Town

Job Category

Posts Established

Number of Vacancies

Deputy Director: Forensic Analysis

1

0

Assistant Director: Forensic Analysis

4

0

Chief Forensic Analyst

4

0

Forensic Analyst

25

0

Specialized Auxiliary Services Officer

8

1

Senior Admin Clerk

4

0

Cleaner

3

0

 

Forensic Chemistry Laboratory Johannesburg

Job Category

Posts Established

Number of Vacancies

Deputy Director: Forensic Analysis

1

0

Assistant Director: Forensic Analysis

3

0

Chief Forensic Analyst

3

0

Forensic Analyst

44

0

Specialized Auxiliary Services Officer

4

1

Senior Admin Clerk

2

0

Admin Clerk

2

1

Cleaner

2

2

Messenger

1

0

General Assistant

1

0

 

Forensic Chemistry Laboratory Pretoria

Job Category

Posts Established

Number of Vacancies

Deputy Director: Forensic Analysis

1

0

Assistant Director: Forensic Analysis

5

0

Chief Forensic Analyst

5

2

Forensic Analyst

32

0

Specialized Auxiliary Services Officer

3

0

Senior Admin Clerk

4

0

Cleaner

4

0

 

(a)        No interns are currently employed at any of the Forensic Chemistry Laboratories.

 

(b)        Not applicable.

 

(3)        (a) and (b)         Please refer to table 2 below:

Table 2

Forensic Chemistry Laboratory Durban

Job Category

Posts Established

Number of Vacancies

Deputy Director: Forensic Analysis

1

1

Assistant Director: Forensic Analysis

1

0

Chief Forensic Analyst

0

0

Forensic Analyst

15

0

Specialized Auxiliary Services Officer

0

0

Senior Admin Clerk

2

0

Cleaner

2

2

 

Reply received: May 2015

QUESTION NO. 158

DATE OF PUBLICATION IN INTERNAL QUESTION PAPER: 12 FEBRUARY 2015  

(INTERNAL QUESTION PAPER NO. 01)

Dr W G James (DA) to ask the Minister of Health:

(1)      For each province, (a) what is the value of each healthcare risk waste tender, (b) on what date was each tender awarded, (c) on what date will it expire and (d) which company is the current contract holder;

(2)      are any of the contracts or tender processes in any of the provinces currently being subjected to legal challenge; if so, (a) what are the relevant details and (b) what has been the cost of each legal challenge;

(3)      is he aware of any company that has been contracted to dispose of healthcare risk waste illegally dumping such waste; if so, (a) what are the names of the companies in question and (b) where has such dumping been taking place;

(4)      will he consider launching an investigation into the illegal dumping of healthcare risk waste; if not, why not; if so, what are the relevant details?

NW165E

REPLY:

  1. to (3)         Please refer to the link for Annexure A: /files/RNW158A-150526.pdf

 

(4)      At a provincial level, the Department of Health’s Environmental Health Section, in collaboration with the respective municipality and other relevant sectors and Departments, conduct an immediate investigation into any illegal dumping of healthcare risk waste that gets reported.

 

Reply received: March 2015

FOR WRITTEN REPLY

QUESTION NO. 179

DATE OF PUBLICATION IN INTERNAL QUESTION PAPER: 12 FEBRUARY 2015  

(INTERNAL QUESTION PAPER NO. 01)

Dr A Lotriet (DA) to ask the Minister of Health:

  1. With reference to the reply of the Minister of Communications to question 1031 on 27 November 2014, what was the total amount that (a) his department and (b) each of its entities (i) spent on and/or (ii) budgeted for advertising for each month between 1 January 2013 and 31 July 2014, excluding expenditure transferred through the Department of Communications for advertising;

 

  1. does such figure for each month represent the (a) total value of advertising that appeared in the media in that month, (b) amount paid in that month for advertising that may have appeared previously or (c) amount paid in advance for advertising that appeared at a later date;

 

  1. in each specified case, what amount did (a) his department and (b) each of its entities spend on advertising in (i) print, (ii) radio, (iii) television, (iv) online and (v) outdoor;

 

  1. in each specified case, what is the breakdown of advertising by (a) his department and (b) each of its entities in terms of (i) name of and (ii) amount spent on each (aa) publication, (bb) radio station, (cc) television station, (dd) website and (ee) billboards location in each province?    
  2.  

 

  1. (a)        (i)         Spent  R1 274 301.74;

 

(ii)         The Department does not budget for each month. The Department has an annual budget for marketing and advertising.

 

 

            (b)       (i)         The following table 1. reflects the details in this regard:

 

Table 1.

PUBLIC ENTITY

MONTHLY EXPENDITURE

TOTAL EXPENDITURE FOR ADVERTISING FOR PERIOD UNDER CONSIDERATION

South African Medical Research Council (MRC)

MONTH

AMOUNT

R2, 106, 226.28

February

              34,294.31

March

                1,934.99

May

            168,795.14

June

                5,685.04

July

            177,039.18

August

            371,033.72

September

              95,605.42

October

              30,166.14

November

              31,963.19

December

              67,260.24

January

            112,972.94

February

            108,248.52

March

            282,287.35

April

            178,148.54

May

              58,034.00

June

            283,275.34

July

              99,482.22

Council for Medical Schemes (CMS)

MONTH

AMOUNT

R1,351,586.28

February

 -

March

 -

May

              25,565.18

June

 -

July

            203,148.00

August

            317,342.26

September

           116,678.08

October

 -

November

            114,114.00

December

 -

January

            140,062.46

February

 -

March

            113,749.20

April

            144,850.68

May

 -

June

             63,329.28

July

           112,747.14

National Health Laboratory Service (NHLS)

MONTH

AMOUNT

R5108,456

 

Jan

119,118

Feb

223,028

Mar

348,504

Apr

159,986

May

424,179

June

347,097

July

183,061

August

171,881

September

26,428

October

449,015

November

133,766

December

9,810

Jan

203,392

Feb

211,951

Mar

390,211

Apr

294,306

May

905,647

June

328,766

July

178,310

 

(ii)        The MRC does not have a month to month budget for advertising. The public entity allocates an annual operating budget to departments and research units, which is inclusive of funding for advertising.

NHLS: No response provided

The CMS had budgeted a total of R1,396,000. 00 for the period in consideration, per month as follows:

 

MONTH

AMOUNT

February

-

March

-

May

26,000.00

June

-

July

205,000.00

August

320,000.00

September

120,000.00

October

-

November

120,000.00

December

-

January

150,000.00

February

-

March

120,000.00

April

150,000.00

May

-

June

65,000.00

July

120,000.00

 

  1. (a)       Department: Yes

MRC:              Yes.

CMS:              Yes.

NHLS:            No information available.

 

(b)       Department:  No

MRC:              No.

CMS:              A total amount of R122, 484.34 is an accrual amount paid during August 2013.

NHLS:            No information available.

(c)        Department:  No

MRC:              No.

CMS:              No.

NHLS:            No information available.

 

  1. (a)       The Department of Health

 

(i)         Print:               Spent  R1 274 301.74

(ii)        Radio:                        Nil

(iii)       Television:     Nil

(iv)       Online:           Nil

(v)        Outdoor:         Nil

 

                        The MRC spent on advertising as follows:

 

                        (i)         Print:              R2 106 226.28;

                        (ii)        Radio:            Nil;

                        (iii)       Television:     Nil;

                        (iv)       Online:           Nil;

                        (v)        Outdoor:         Nil

 

The CMS spent on advertising as follows:

 

  1. Print:               R1,137,517.08;
  2. Radio:            R113,749.20;
  3. Television:     Nil;
  4. Online:           Nil;
  5. Outdoor:         R100,320.00

 

The NHLS Spent on advertising as follows:

 

  1. Print:               R5108, 456
  2. Radio:            Nil
  3. Television:     Nil
  4. Online:           Nil
  5. Outdoor:         Nil
  1. (a)

 

 (i) Name

(ii) Amount spent

National Polio and Measles  Immunisation Campaign (April 2013)

Daily Sun, Beeld, Sowetan, Die Son and the Star

R257 794.34

Move for Health Day Campaign (May 2013)

Daily Sun, Beeld, The New Age and The Star

R533 423.01

World No Tobacco Day Campaign (June 2014)

Daily Sun, Sowetan, The Star, Sunday Times and City Press

R483 084.39

Total

R1 274 301.74

 

(aa)     Publication:               As above

(bb)     Radio Station:           Nil

(cc)      Television:                 Nil

(dd)     Website:                     Nil

(ee)     Billboards:                 Nil

 

(b)       The MRC breakdown is as follows:

 

  (i) Name

(ii) Amount spent

(aa) Business Day, Cape Times, Weekend Argus, Sunday Tribune, Government Printers, Mail & Guardian, Sunday Times

R2 106 226.28

 

The CMS breakdown is as follows:

 

  (i) Name

(ii) Amount spent

(aa) Health and Media Publication, Sunday Times, Independent Newspaper, City Press

R1,137,517.08

(bb) Jacaranda FM

R113,749.20

(ee) Ad Outpost – Billboards next to N1/Old Johannesburg Road North, Gauteng

R100, 320.00

 

                  No information available from NHLS

The Office of Health Standards Compliance’s budget was still under the National Department of Health during the period under review therefore covered under departmental inputs/responses.

 

Reply received: May 2015

QUESTION NO. 159

DATE OF PUBLICATION IN INTERNAL QUESTION PAPER: 12 FEBRUARY 2015  

(INTERNAL QUESTION PAPER NO. 01)

Dr W G James (DA) to ask the Minister of Health:

(1)      What is the nature of the (a) electricity feed in each hospital in the country and (b) electricity supplied by (i) the relevant municipality and/or (ii) Eskom directly;

(2)      does each hospital have a generator to supply power during an electricity blackout; if not, what is the backup power supply plan for each hospital; if so, (a) how many generators are there at each hospital, (b) are each of the generators currently in working order, (c) for how long can each hospital run on generator power at current fuel levels and (d) what is the minimum amount of fuel kept at each hospital to power the generators?

NW166E

REPLY:

The attached Table in Annexure A reflects the details in this regard. See the link: /files/RNW159-150527ANNEXUREA.docx

 

Reply received: April 2015

QUESTION NO. 153

DATE OF PUBLICATION IN INTERNAL QUESTION PAPER: 12 FEBRUARY 2015  

(INTERNAL QUESTION PAPER NO. 01)

Dr H C Volmink (DA) to ask the Minister of Health:

(1)      With reference to his reply to question 2014 on 24 November 2014, what are the reasons for the subsidy remaining static in the (a) 2011-12, (b) 2012-13 and (c) 2013-14 financial years;

(2)      (a) how many patients on average were living at the Little Eden Society (i) in the (aa) 2011-12, (bb) 2012-13 and (cc) 2013-14 financial years and (ii) since 1 January 2015 and (b) what was his department’s subsidy per patient in each specified financial year?

NW160E

REPLY:

  1. The reasons for the subsidy remaining static in (a) 2011-12, (b) 2012-13 and (c) 2013-14 was budget constraints.
  1. (a)         Little Eden is one organization with two sections, Little Eden and Elvira Rota with 180 and 120 residential beds respectively. Numbers of patients did not vary during the period for which information was requested.

(b)        The department’s subsidy per patient in each financial year is provided in the table below. The Department had a budget increase for Mental Health NGO’s from R2 858.00 to R3 001.00 in the 2014/15 financial year.

 

Name

Amount of users

Year

monthly per user

NGO monthly allocation

Annual

Little Eden

180 Users

2011/12

R2 858

R51 4440

R6 173 280

Elvira Rota

120

2011/12

R2 858

R34 2960

R4 115 520

TOTAL

R857 400

R10 288 800

Little Eden

180

2012/13

R2 858

R514 440

R6 173 280

Elvira Rota

120

2012/13

R2 858

R342 960

R4 115 520

TOTAL

R857 400

R10 288 800

Little Eden

180

2013/14

R2 858

R51 4440

R6 173 280

Elvira Rota

120

2013/14

R2 858

R34 2960

R4 115 520

TOTAL

R857 400

R10 288 800

Little Eden

(January)

180

2015

R3 001

R540 180

R6 482 160

Elvira Rota

(January)

120

2015

R3 001

R360 120

R4 321 440

TOTAL

 

R10 803 600

 

Reply received: March 2015

QUESTION NO. 12

DATE OF PUBLICATION IN INTERNAL QUESTION PAPER: 12 FEBRUARY 2015  

(INTERNAL QUESTION PAPER NO. 01)

Ms D Carter (Cope) to ask the Minister of Health:

(1)      Whether his department is working with the South African Police Service (SAPS) to ensure the arrest and prosecution of those who were illegally offering abortions through street advertisements and other means in order to bring an end to the exploitation of vulnerable women by fake doctors;

(2)      whether his department has taken steps to ensure that clinics which offer the termination of pregnancy were not acting in a manner which drive desperate women to seek illegal abortions as a better alternative; if not, why not; if so, what are the details of his department’s success for the period 1 January 2012 to 31 December 2014?                                                                       

  1.  

REPLY:

  1. Yes, the Department of Health is working together with the South African Police Service in dealing with illegal abortionists in the country.  However, the people who are offering illegal abortions do not operate in clinics, they operate as mobile service providers where they make appointments with their clients to meet along the streets then take them to a house or a structure that is not easily identifiable.  Unfortunately these women do not come forth to report any complications of unsafe abortions.

 

  1. The Department of Health is providing Termination of Pregnancy (TOP) in the designated health facilities at no cost. Doctors and nurses have been trained in Manual Vacuum Aspiration to provide safe TOP.  The Department introduced Medical Abortion to increase access to TOP services. The Department continues to conduct Value Clarification workshops to empower professionals and communities. Debriefing sessions are also conducted for professionals providing TOP services. During the period of 2012-2014 a total of 80,775 TOPs were performed safely in the country.