2023-w1306 - 19 May 2023

Naledi Nokukhanya Chirwa to ask the Minister of Health

(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?

Reply from the Minister of Health on 19 May 2023

(1) (a)-(b) Existing facilities with Green Rating Cards

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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 ...

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2023-w1301 - 19 May 2023

Ciliesta Catherine Shoana Motsepe to ask the Minister of Health

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?

Reply from the Minister of Health on 19 May 2023

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 ...

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2023-w1312 - 19 May 2023

Sophie Suzan Thembekwayo to ask the Minister of Health

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?

Reply from the Minister of Health on 19 May 2023

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 ...

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2023-w1332 - 19 May 2023

Michéle Odette Clarke to ask the Minister of Health

(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?

Reply from the Minister of Health on 19 May 2023

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 ...

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2023-w1303 - 19 May 2023

Noluvuyo Tafeni to ask the Minister of Health

(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?

Reply from the Minister of Health on 19 May 2023

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 ...

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2023-w1304 - 19 May 2023

Noluvuyo Tafeni to ask the Minister of Health

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?

Reply from the Minister of Health on 19 May 2023

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 ...
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2023-w1331 - 19 May 2023

Michéle Odette Clarke to ask the Minister of Health

(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?

Reply from the Minister of Health on 19 May 2023

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.

PROVINCE

CLINICS ...

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2023-w1276 - 19 May 2023

Ahmed Munzoor Shaik Emam to ask the Minister of Health

What additional measures is his department putting in place to ensure that food products such as energy drinks, fizzy drinks, confections and fast foods have reduced levels of sugar and less unhealthy ingredients, in order to move to a more preventative healthcare system, given the fact that the demand for healthcare services is increasing at an alarming rate whilst the current measures that are in place are inadequate?

Reply from the Minister of Health on 19 May 2023

The Department has published the draft Regulations relating to the Labelling and Advertising of Foodstuffs for public comments in April 2023. These regulations include mandatory Front of Pack Labelling (FOPL) on the main panel of any foodstuff that has high levels of sugar, saturated fats and salt or contain artificial sweeteners. The closing date for public comments is Thursday20 July ...

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2023-w1286 - 19 May 2023

Ngwanamakwetle Reneiloe Mashabela to ask the Minister of Health

In light of the revelations that more than R700 million was spent irregularly each year on security contracts for Gauteng hospitals alone, what (a) is the status of hospitals in other provinces with regard to irregular monies spent on security contracts each year in each province and (b) are the reasons that he has not considered and/or implemented the recommendation to insource all cleaning and security services in hospitals and facilities in the public sector?

Reply from the Minister of Health on 19 May 2023

(a) Limpopo, Free State, Western Cape, and Mpumalanga Provinces do not have irregular expenditure associated with provision of security services. Mpumalanga Department of Health does not have the budget nor expenditure incurred, the security contracts are centralised at Mpumalanga Department of Safety and security in the province.

Eastern Cape incurred R34.9 million irregular expenditure in 2019/20 Financial year (FY), R108.5 million in 2020/21 FY ...

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2023-w1335 - 19 May 2023

Evelyn Rayne Wilson to ask the Minister of Health

(1)What is the (a) total number of ambulances in each province, (b) short fall and (c) number available for a buffer; number available for a buffer; (2) what total number of ambulances are currently not in use in each province due to being involved in (a) accidents and (b)(i) repairs and (ii) maintenance; (3) what is the average waiting time for ambulances to transport patients in each province; (4) what is the ambulance to population ratio (a) nationally and (b) in each province?

Reply from the Minister of Health on 19 May 2023

1. Table 1 below indicates (a) total number of ambulances in each province based on the ratio of 1 ambulance per 10 000 people, (b) short fall and (c) number available for a buffer is as follows:

Table 1:

Province

(a) Total of No. ambulances

(b) Short fall

(c) Buffer

Eastern Cape 

448

222

30

Free State 

138

152

42

Gauteng 

1 600 ...

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