(1)Whether he will furnish Mrs M O Clarke with a list of all (a) hospitals, (b) clinics and (c) other public health facilities that have upgraded to electronic record-keeping in each province; if not, why not; if so, what are the relevant details;
(2) whether he will furnish Mrs M O Clarke with a list of all the specified public health facilities that do not have working (a) telephones, (b) computers and/or laptops, (c) access to the internet and/or WiFi and (d) any other information and communications technology infrastructure; if not, why not; if so, what are the reasons that each facility does not have the specified equipment;
(3) what are the reasons that some public health facilities have not yet been electronically upgraded;
(4) what is the envisaged (a) cost and (b) time frame for each province to upgrade to electronic systems?
1. We are not in a position to provide a list of all (a) hospitals, (b) clinics and (c) other public health facilities that have upgraded to electronic record-keeping per province because each province has a complex set of different solutions. However, we can report on the systems that are installed as follows:
The national department of Health together with provinces implemented the Health ...
(1)Whether he will furnish Mrs M O Clarke with a list of the (a) age demographics and (b) field of specialisation as a percentage in each category of nurses employed in the public health sector; if not, why not; if so, (i) what are the relevant details and (ii) in which provinces are the specified nurses employed;
(2) (a) what is the current vacancy rate for all the specified fields of specialised nursing in each province and (b) by what date will the specified vacancies be filled?
1. (a) In accordance with the Persal data set as extracted for the month of September 2023 below is the table of the age demographics of all nurses employed in the public health sector
Age demographics: All Nurse categories per province (June 2023)
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Age demographics of all nurses employed in the public health sector as at September 2023
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Province
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20-24yr
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25-29yr
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30-34yr
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35-39yr
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40-44yr ... |
(1)Whether he will furnish Mrs M O Clarke with a list of all the critical skills vacancies in each province; if not, why not; if so, what are the relevant details;
(2) (a) by what date will the specified vacancies be filled and (b) what is the total annual cost of each position?
The Department of Home Affairs compiles a list of critical skills needed in the country as their reference for approving work permits. The current Home Affairs Critical list as published 2022 includes only Medical and Nursing Specialists for Health services.
The Department of Health provides essential services to the country. This is based on the nature of services being provided. It is imperative to ...
(1)Whether, with reference to a video that was allegedly recorded in a ward in the Ladysmith Provincial Hospital in KwaZulu-Natal, in which a naked boy who was tied to a hospital bed and being assaulted by two security guards (details furnished), the actions by the security guards are regarded as appropriate; if not, what are the details of the action that has been and/or will be taken to (a) hold the responsible security guards accountable, (b) hold the hospital management and nursing staff accountable and (c) prevent such treatment of patients being repeated in the specified hospital and/or in any State hospital in the Republic;
(2) what are the reasons that the (a) boy was being held captive on the hospital bed and (b) nursing staff did not intervene to stop the assault on the boy;
(3) whether the boy is still in the hospital; if not, (a) where is he currently being treated and (b) what is the reason that he was discharged from the hospital; if so, what are the relevant details?
1. (a) According to the KZN Department of Health, the two Security Officers implicated have since been suspended by the Private Security Company and are in the process of being subjected to a disciplinary inquiry. A case was opened (CAS No.586/9/2023) with South African Police Service following the incident and the Security Officers were arrested, detained, and thereafter released on bail. The Security Officers ...
What (a) assistance has been provided to residents of Dunoon in the Western Cape who have complained about the poor service they have been receiving from the Dunoon Community Health Centre and (b) are the relevant details in this regard?
According to the Western Cape Department of Health:
The Dunoon Community Health Centre operates 24 hours and 7 days a week. On daily basis the facility attends to:
Adults :
- 150-200 Un-booked patients
- 180-200 Booked patients.
- 15-35 TB clients
- 75-100 Family planning
Staff allocation for these services is 6 Clinical Nurse Practitioners and 2 Medical Officers.
Children:
- 100-150 Sick Children
- 80-120 Immunizations
Staff allocation ...
What (a) number of health facilities in KwaZulu-Natal have experienced water shortages and (b) steps has he taken to assist the specified facilities with a sustainable solution to the water shortage threats and crisis affecting the health facilities?
According to the KwaZulu Natal Provincial Department of Health, there are 59 facilities that have experienced water shortages. The Table below is providing a list of health facilities that have experienced water shortages including the steps that were taken in resolving the crisis:
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District
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Facility name
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Issues Experienced
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Steps for sustainable Solution
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Uthukela
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St Chads Community Health Centre
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No reliable water supply from the ... |
(1)What plans has his department put in place to (a) increase the capacity to carry out caesarean sections and (b) provide the necessary equipment for the specified operations in public hospitals as infants die as a result of the lack of adequate equipment;
(2) whether he has found that the lack of equipment and capacity resulting in injuries to women and deaths of infants are challenges for his department in providing quality health care for women in labour and their babies; if not, what is the position in this regard; if so, what are the relevant details?
1..(a) The National Department of Health has put the following interventions in place to increase the capacity to carry out caesarean sections:
- Department developed various support services to strengthen capacity at lower levels of care. Support services include in/outreach programmes by specialists, use of District Clinical Specialist Teams to address the issues of knowledge and skill to performance of C/Section. Use of family physicians ...
Given that in his address at the United Nations on 22 September 2023 wherein he stated that the Republic has made progress in transforming the public healthcare sector, despite the sustained regression in the public healthcare sector that has even been noted by the Auditor-General in consecutive years, (a) which progress in transformation was he referring to and (b) how is the progress measured?
a) Progress on public healthcare sector transformation
The Minister was referring to transformation of health services in South Africa since 1994, which began with the Reconstruction and Development Programme (RDP) that emanated from the Freedom Charter. RDP aimed at redressing the harmful effects of apartheid and complete transformation of the entire health delivery system.
Key milestones in health transformation were: the establishment of a ...
With reference to his statement that his department will be prioritising funds to help with water storage infrastructure, following the rising infections at Gauteng hospitals due to the water crisis, (a)(i) in what way and (ii) in which period will his department be doing this and (b)(i) to what effect will the intervention take place and (ii) which areas, facilities and communities will be affected by this intervention?
On the 19 September 2023, the Zuikerbosch water treatment plant had a breakdown caused by a power trip, which affected the production of water supply.
(a) Short-term temporary intervention should there be a similar crisis: (i)&(ii) water tankers are on standby to prevent health services being affected by such crisis. Some of the hospitals in Gauteng have reservoirs and some have boreholes as part ...
(a) What is the total number of South African doctors who have trained abroad since 1 January 2020, who are waiting to write the board examination of the Health Professions Council of South Africa (HPCSA) in order to be admitted as doctors in the Republic, (b) by what date will the HPCSA be in a position for the foreign-trained South African doctors to write the board examinations to be admitted as doctors, (c) what is causing the delay and (d) how long has the problem persisted unresolved by his department?
According to the Health Professions Council of South Africa (HPCSA):
a) There were 405 foreign-qualified doctors eligible to write the HPCSA Board examination which includes both South Africans as well as foreign nationals. The eligible foreign-qualified doctors were invited to write the HPCSA examinations however only 217 applicants confirmed that they would write the examination.
b) A total of 217 foreign-trained doctors participated in ...
