(1)Whether, with reference to the Draft Regulations on the Surveillance and the Control of Notifiable Medical Conditions (NMCs) that were published in the Government Gazette on or about 15 March 2022, and the subsequent publishing of the Health Regulations Relating to the surveillance and control of NMCs on or about 4 May 2022, following his department’s repeal of Regulations 16A through 16C of the Health Regulations, his department will also withdraw the Draft Regulations in their entirety; if not, why not; if so, on what date
(2) what are the reasons for his department’s decision not to repeal the listing of COVID-19 as an NMC in accordance with clause 3 of the Health Regulations, given his letter to various MECs, dated 20 June 2022, stating that the weak sub variants now circulating failed to produce a significant fifth wave;
(3) what are his department’s reasons for not amending Regulation 20 of the existing regulations, which make a contravention of the regulations a crime punishable by up to 10 years’ imprisonment? ;
(1) No. The draft Regulations published on 15 March 2022 will not be withdrawn. These draft Regulations do not deal only with Covid-19 but also with other notifiable medical conditions. The comments from the public are still being processed and will be considered for any decision/amendments to be made regarding the published draft Regulations. The draft Regulations also mean to address pandemic situations as ...
(a) How long has the stock shortage of surgical metal being experienced at the Livingstone Hospital in Gqeberha resulted in patients being turned away without assistance when seeking orthopaedic intervention, (b) what other hospitals are affected by the same issue and (c) what measures of intervention (i) will he take to resolve the crisis and (ii) are in place to prevent the shortage of such surgical metal?
(a) According to the Eastern Cape province this issue was experienced in August 2021 and is attributable to a tender process that made it impossible to have the necessary range of products to choose from.
The key challenge with implants at Livingstone hospital and the whole EC province is the absence of a comprehensive transversal contract and gross budget limitations within the province. The ...
What (a) action has he taken in relation to the recommendations by the Ombudsman at the Rahima Moosa Hospital that the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) should be released and a new CEO be placed at the specified hospital, (b) number of recommendations pertaining to the Rahima Moosa Hospital from the Ombudsman (i) has his department implemented and (ii) are still outstanding and (c) period was his department given by the Ombudsman to respond to the recommendations and concerns raised over the hospital?
a) The Chief Executive Officer of Rahima Moosa hospital Dr Mkabayi has been transferred to the Provincial Department of Health for the duration of her contract. Dr Mkabayi is receiving professional support and training required and she is adapting very well in the new environment and her performance is good. There are no challenges experienced thus far as she has knowledge, skills and abilities ...
(1)(a) What number of public healthcare facilities will be rated green (details furnished) and (b) by what date will each public hospital reach the specified milestone;
(2) whether there are any intentional plans by his department to ensure that all public healthcare facilities reach the green rating level; if not, why not; if so, what are the relevant details?
(1) (a)-(b) Existing facilities with Green Rating Cards
Capital Projects in the pipeline for the Green Rating Cards:
(2) Aging public health facilities remains a challenge and growing concern for the Department of Health. The short-, medium- and long-term focus is thus more on restoring many of these facilities to an acceptable state of operability. This does not imply that the Department is not ...
What are the reasons that his department is phasing out temporarily-employed nurses in clinics and hospitals in light of the huge shortages of nurses who are qualified to do the work across the Republic?
The Provincial Departments of Health are required to phase out or terminate contracts of the temporarily employed nurses in clinics and hospitals funded through the Covid-19 Grant. National Treasury has since terminated the Covid-19 Grant with effect from 1 April 2023 amounting to R1.9 Billion. The National Department of Health is continuously engaging National Treasury to consider the prolongation of funding some or all ...
What measures of intervention has he put in place in the Cape Winelands clinics in the Western Cape, that still request HIV patients to raise their clinic cards in front of other patients, exposing their status and thus making them vulnerable?
The Western Cape Department of Health reports that it only has one visit card for all patients in all facilities. The information on the visit card will be the name, surname, contact number and address and the date of next appointment. No diagnosis is written on the visit card. Confidentiality is a priority to ensure person-centred care.
The only other card that patients carry ...
(1)What (a) is the total amount budgeted for National Health Insurance (NHI) grants annually since 2017, (b) amount of each grant was spent, (c) items was the specified amount spent on and (d) amount was returned to the National Treasury;
(2) Regarding the NHI pilot projects what (a) amount was budgeted for each project, (b) is the breakdown of each project and (c) amount has been spent annually on each project since they were launched,
(3) what were the (a) outcomes of each NHI project;
(4) whether the outcomes were successfully achieved; if not, why not; if so, (a) how were they evaluated and (b) what are the further relevant details?
1. The following grants have been established:
(i) NHI Schedule 5 Direct Grant
(ii) NHI Schedule 6 Indirect Grant which consists of:
- Health Facility Revitalisation Component (In Kind Grant)
- Personal services component
- Non-personal services component
(a)-(b) The overall budget and expenditure of the NHI Grant has been as follows:
For the 2017/18 and 2018/19 financial years, it was only the NHI Indirect grant allocation ...
(a) What number of hospitals have reported cable theft to date, (b) what is the name of each hospital that reported theft of cables, (c) what action has he taken to respond to the security concern raised over cable theft and its possible consequences, (d) by what date will he intervene on the matter and (e) what preventative measures will be put in place to avoid cable theft from happening in future?
a) The National Department of Health is still waiting for the data from other provincial health departments. However, the Department has been informed by the Gauteng Department of Health about the stolen cables at Charlotte Maxeke, Steve Biko and Chris Hani Baragwanath Academic Hospitals. To date, only 9 Hospitals were reported for cable theft in the Free State Province.
b) Hospitals that have been ...
What steps of intervention has he taken in response to the security crisis facing healthcare facilities in the Republic beyond the usual tendering for security services that fail to avoid the security crises and (b) action has he taken in response to the St Georges Hospital case where a woman was gunned down inside the specified premises?
a) The Minster of Health has appointed a Ministerial Task Team for safety and security in all public health facilities. The purpose of the task team was to assess the effectiveness of security measures and make recommendations. The task team has conducted security assessments at all public health facilities. Subsequently reports were drafted with the following recommendations:
- Improve security infrastructure like perimeter fencing and ...
(1)What is the average waiting time at public (a) clinics and (b) hospitals for primary healthcare services (i) nationally and (ii) in each province;
(2) what is the average waiting time for surgeries at public healthcare facilities in the Republic (a) nationally and (b) in each province;
(3) what (a) is the current surgeries backlog and (b) procedures have a backlog (i) nationally and (ii) in each province?
1. (a) (i) and (ii)
The Ideal Health Facility Framework measures the average time that a patient spends in a Primary Health Care (PHC) facility. It is recommended that patients should not wait longer than 3 hours in the 8-hour facilities. The table below shows percentages for the provinces in terms of PHC facilities that have waiting times less than 3 hours.
