The National Health Insurance (NHI) is one of ten key priorities of the health sector Programme of Action. It is to be implemented in phases from 2012 over a fourteen year period.
Its objective is to put in place the necessary funding and health service delivery mechanisms that will enable the creation of an efficient, equitable and sustainable health system in South Africa.
NHI is one of the most ambitious reforms that our government has introduced and preparatory work for the implementation of the NHI requires a comprehensive and systematic approach. NHI is founded on the constitutional principle of the right to quality healthcare.
From previous discussions we have recognised the existence of gaps in our approach to ensuring that this right is achieved. These gaps include amongst other things infrastructure backlogs, challenges in implementing quality improvement strategies and accreditation programmes for our health facilities and human resource shortages.
The successful implementation of the NHI is dependent on the realisation of a quality of care in our facilities. Our public health facilities will be required to conform to agreed-upon quality standards that have been approved by the National Health Council (NHC), if they are to be accredited to deliver health services within an NHI.
In preparing for the implementation of the National Health Insurance, an international consultative workshop is being convened to address one of these gaps, namely quality of care in our public health facilities.
The aim of the workshop is to provide an opportunity for policy makers, public health practitioners and other health experts to apply their collective minds, to add value to our efforts aimed at improving the health profile of all South Africans through improvement of quality of care in public health facilities and communities.
We are cognisant of the fact that challenges in the delivery of health services are not unique to South Africa and that many lessons can be learnt from other countries that have experienced similar problems in the past and have turned the corner.
A good example of a country that has dealt successfully with problems of quality in the healthcare system is the United Kingdom (UK), whose National Health Service suffered setbacks in the famous Bristol Royal Infirmary case between 1984 and 1995.
South Africa is going to learn from this process how health services can be delivered based on principles of honesty and respect, and how we can promote the culture of safety, quality, openness, accountability and collaborative teamwork that can promote responsiveness to patient's needs. This will require good leadership, competency and skills.
We can also learn from National Health Service how they introduced appropriate standards, enhanced safety of patients, and promoted public participation, in addition to having established entities such as the National Institute for Clinical Excellence (now the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence) (NICE), the Quality Care Commission and the National Patient Safety Agency (NPSA).
It has been acknowledged that despite pockets of excellence, there is a lack of values within the public health system, and this is a major impediment to the achievement of quality of care.
Our aim is to benchmark our policy proposals on quality improvement and care, to enable us to finalise our policy and legislative framework. We will also strengthen and build quality into our health system through adherence to standards that will cover the following six quality priority areas:
- improve patient safety
- infection prevention and control
- availability of medicines
- reduce waiting times
- improve cleanliness
- positive and caring attitudes
- values and motivation
This meeting will deliberate on the "quality of healthcare policy framework" and legislative changes. Consultations on policy and legislation with different stakeholders will commence soon.
For more information please contact:
Fidel Hadebe
Cell: 079 517 3333
