Media statement on National Health Insurance pilot project implementation by Gauteng MEC for Health Ntombi Mekgwe

As you all are aware the Minister of Health, Aaron Motsoaledi, has announced pilot sites for the National Health Insurance (NHI). In Gauteng, Tshwane Health District has been selected as one of the eleven NHI pilots in the country. The department has been allocated a NHI conditional grant of R31,5 million for the 2012/13 financial year for implementation.

As a province we have decided on phased approach to implement the pilot project, targeting as large a population as possible within the district. In this regard coverage will focus on both the urban and rural mix, especially the most vulnerable. This should ensure improvement in the both access to and quality of the health services in these areas. The benefits of these shall be improved perception of public health services.

The first phase of implementation will be in sub-district 2 (North East of City, including areas such a Kekana Gardens, Themba up to Jubilee)  and sub-district 3 (Central West including areas such as Laudium, Atteridgeville and inner city). Together these sub-districts have a combined population of 848,199, which is 31 percent of the population of Tshwane District. Roll-out to the rest of the district will be incremental over a three year period.

Facilities that will be participating in the first phase of the implementation of the pilot are following clinics: Tambo, Mandisa Shiceka, Kekanastadt, Suurman, Dilopye, New Eersterus, Kekana Gardens, Ramotse, Jubilee Gateway. Themba CHC and  Refentse MOU. These facilities are in sub-district two.

In sub-district three the following facilities clinics will be participating, Skinner Street, Bophelong, Folang, Hercules, Laudium, Danville, Atteridgeville, Gazankulu, Lotus Garden, Phomolong, and Saulsville. In addition upgrades will also be done at Laudium Community Health Centre.

As a department we started preparations for the introduction of the NHI in the 2010/11 financial year. From period to date we have set up the Quality Assurance Unit and the provincial Office of Standard Compliance. The office of standard compliance has an inspectorate which comprises of nurses, environmental officers, medical technologists and retired nurses. They monitor infection controls, cleanliness, staff attitudes, patient safety and availability and waiting times in line with the NHI norms and standards.

The Quality Assurance Unit has conducted self-assessment exercises to test the compliance of all facilities in the province with these norms and standards. Training was also provided to quality assurance teams in all facilities throughout the province.

Seven primary healthcare teams have been established servicing Olivenhoutbosch, Atteridgeville, Mamelodi, Refilwe and Kekana Gardens. These teams will of community health workers will provide outreach services into the communities, visiting homes, identifying needs and making intervention which including referring those who are sick to the clinic or hospital. Twenty of these teams will be established in the province this year.

Twenty two school based primary healthcare teams have also been established to service 521 schools. These teams will assist in screening learners and assessing barrier to learning including sight, hearing and oral hygiene. They are composed of a professional nurse, auxiliary nurse, health promoter, oral hygienist and optometrist.

We are currently in the process of appointing District Clinical Specialist Support Teams who will work hand in hand with the teams I have mentioned and support clinics. These include an obstetrician, family physician, paediatrician, anaesthetist, advanced midwife, clinically trained nurse, and paediatric nurse.

You will also know that we have been involved in a process of clearing debts that we owe to suppliers and service providers in the department. Our plan was always to pay all old accruals owed dating back to 2006/07 financial year by March 2012, and settle all debts incurred in the 2011 financial year by June 2012.

In March we completed the first phase of our payment plan. We used R670 million made available to us in November by provincial treasury and a further R1 billion made available in February to service the debts according to our plan.

We have now entered into the second phase of our plan. In this phase we will be paying all suppliers to whom we owe less R1 million this month, followed by those we owe less than R100 million in May and those we over a R100 million in June.

The provincial government has made available to us R1.5 billion to finance the second round of payments. The department shall use a total amount of R874 000 000 to pay medical suppliers.

A total of 2 604 suppliers that are owed less than R1 million such as non-governmental organisations, waste removal companies, and suppliers of fuel, oil and gas will also be paid. An instruction to release R259 million to all these suppliers was issued on Friday (19 April 2012) and suppliers should have the money in the bank accounts in the coming week.

We will continue with cost containment measures in the department to avoid wastage and improve management of resources. The electronic gate-keeping system which was piloted here at Chris Hani Baragwanath hospital has now been implemented in 20 hospitals throughout the province.

All these measures are part of our efforts to turnaround the department and improve the delivery of quality health services in the province. We convinced that these steps will lead to improvements and further strengthen our healthcare system.

Thank you!