Sir
While a 2015/16 report by the Health Systems Trust confirmed that only 24% of KZN’s primary healthcare clinics met the Ideal Clinic Standard, last year the Office of Healthcare Standards Compliance found that at as few as 19% met the required level, with only 9% of all clinics in the province able to meet the Platinum or the highest Standard.
This is little cause for celebration, with the situation clearly moving from bad to worse. According to the Ideal Clinic Programme, by which criteria KZN’s clinics are assessed, a top facility should have ‘good infrastructure, adequate staff, adequate medicine and supplies, good administrative processes, and sufficient adequate bulk supplies”. The same programme also cites clinical policies, protocols and guidelines, partnerships and stakeholder support, collaboration with government departments, private sector and non-governmental organisations as a desired means to address the social determinants of health.
Despite these guidelines, KZN’s clinics remain in a deplorable state – something that the DA has witnessed first-hand during oversight inspections. The reason for this massive non-compliance is not always due to nurses, doctors and certain officials not doing their jobs. Instead, it is due to an uncaring, merciless, ineffective and failed ANC political leadership – one which has brought KZN’s Health Department to its knees through failing to fill critical posts, ensure adequate medicine supplies and disregarding infrastructure maintenance.
Then there is the poor financial management. During the last five years, KZN’s Health Department has racked up unauthorised expenditure of almost R24 billion. The situation is so severe that a Treasury Task team was sent in to intervene. Meanwhile, the office of the Auditor General has confirmed to the province’s Health Portfolio Committee that while KZN Health MEC, Sibongiseni Dhlomo commits to improvements, he does not follow through.
The DA – along with civil society organisations and the public – has long called on Premier Willies Mchunu and his ANC to fire MEC Dhlomo yet our pleas have fallen on deaf ears. Instead, the ANC has done worse – it has promoted this MEC, placing him high up on the parliamentary list for after the elections. This is despicable when a decade under his failed leadership has brought nothing but ruin to this critical Department.
Dr Imran Keeka, MPL
DA KZN Spokesperson on Health
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