Honourable Speaker
Honourable Premier
Members of the Executive Council
Honourable members of the Legislature
Distinguished guests
Ladies and gentlemen
Comrades and friends
Honourable Speaker
Over the years, since 1994, the objectives of the movement have served as the centrepiece of the election manifestoes on whose basis the people of our province and country mandated the ANC to assume the honoured position of the ruling party of South Africa.
Once more, during the recent provincial and national general elections the people of the Free State unashamedly and unequivocally put the ANC to that honoured position in this house and the Provincial Executive. To them we will forever be indebted and we will spare no effort in advancing towards the achievement of the goal of a better life for all.
Four days ago we observed and celebrated a life well lived. The life of one of our own sons, the icon and beacon of our own struggle, Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela. The example he set continues to inspire many of us and our movement as a whole. Mpilontle Tata, Madiba. Nelson Mandela remains a symbol of hope to many in our province and country in general.
As we retrace his footsteps we remember that, on 8 January 1912, the African National Congress the organisation he remains loyal to until today, set out the vision of a country we will strive to create-a non-racial, non-sexist and democratic South Africa.
Honourable Speaker, in this regard, the democratic government led by the ANC took various decisions about the immediate tasks of this revolution. These were captured among others in the Reconstruction and Development (R&D) programme document.
The Health of all South Africans will be secured mainly through the achievements of equitable social and economic development. The legacies of apartheid policies in South Africa have created large disparities between racial groups in terms of socio-economic status, occupation, housing and health.
Primary Health Care will continue to form the foundation of our health system, and of the overall social and economic development of our communities. In this regard, I wish to welcome the resolve by President Jacob Zuma and the Premier for committing to ensure that all spheres of government work in a coherent and organised manner through the cluster system.
Health problems have many and complex causes whose solution demands an intersectoral approach. Other sectors like those providing clean water, sanitation, housing etc have a greater impact on health, than health services alone.
The achievements of the Free State government over the past fifteen years in addressing these challenges, present us with an opportunity to surge forward more resolutely in our quest to provide quality health care services for our people.
Honourable Speaker,
The challenges facing our health system are well documented. We have for instance faced enormous financial pressures in the last financial year, which at times prevented the department from fulfilling its mandate to the full.
The province is however looking at turning this situation around. Through the stewardship of the Premier we convened a provincial health summit on the 16 to 17 July 2009.
The summit was indeed a platform that accorded the people of the Free State through their different representative formations, that is, political parties, trade unions, non-governmental organisations (NGOs), Health statutory governance structures, government departments, experts, health professionals and local government to collectively reflect on a common way-forward. The resolutions taken at the summit will be an important part of our work in going forward. The relevant clusters of government and the relevant governance structures in the health sector shall have to seriously play their oversight role to make sure that we are indeed collectively held accountable regarding the implementation of the summit resolutions and other injunctions contained in this budget vote.
Honourable Speaker, our mandate is derived from the election manifesto translated into government programme of action and National Health 10 point plan summarised into seven strategic goals for the department which are:
* provision of strategic leadership and creation of social compact for better health outcomes
* improve the quality of health services
* reduce burden of disease
* revitalisation of physical infrastructure
* improved human resource management
* overhaul the healthcare system and improve its management, and
* research and development.
There is no doubt about the correctness of our policies to transform health: the key question is what steps are we collectively prepared to take to turn things around.
Honourable Speaker, we have set ourselves the objectives of further reducing inequalities in healthcare provision, to boost human resource capacity, revitalise hospitals and clinics and step up the fight against the scourge of HIV and AIDS, Tuberculosis (TB) and other diseases. The need to engage in healthcare research and development cannot be over emphasised.
We must work together to improve the implementation of the Comprehensive Plan for the treatment, management and care of HIV and AIDS so as to reduce the rate of new HIV infections by 50% by the year 2011. We will strengthen the wellness program so as to contribute towards the goal of reaching 80% of those in need of ARV treatment by 2011. We will maintain the home based care and antiretroviral therapy for pregnant women with the view to improve the management of the programs. The functioning of the provincial council on AIDS will be strengthened.
The department will do everything in its power to support the introduction of National Health Insurance. We are also paying urgent attention to the issues of remuneration, recruitment and retention of health professionals. The department is committed to Batho Pele Principles and will continue to improve functioning of health facilities by paying attention to long queues, appropriate clinic hours and the use of name tags to help the public identify officials. Workings together let us do more to promote quality healthcare.
The core business of the Department of Health is to ensure the delivery of Quality Health Services. In pursuing this task we therefore present to the house
the budget allocated to the Health Department for the 2009/10 financial year amounts to R5,169 billion and this represents 28% of the total of the provincial budget of R18,373 billion. This budget represents an increase of 15,6% more than the budget allocated in the 2008/09 financial year.
An amount of R1,341 billion is conditional grant funding. R184,396 million is set aside for equipment while a total amount of R255,586 million is budgeted for infrastructure and facilities.
The budget in terms of economic classifications is as follows:
* compensation of employees R3,048 billion
* goods and services R1,602 billion
* capital budget R440 million
* transfers R79 million
Honourable Speaker, whilst the provision of health services is our core mandate, the creation of jobs and the fight against poverty and under development would feature prominently in all our programs. The primary beneficiaries will be women, youth and disabled. We will utilise platforms like voluntarism, National Youth Service Programme and Porter System in our hospitals. The existing opportunities in programs like cleaning, nursing auxiliary services and maintenance contracts will be explored.
The budget has been allocated to the eight programmes in the budget structure which caters for the following:
Programme one: Administration
An mount of R222,8 million, was allocated to this programme, which amounts to an increase of 10,5%. Amongst other priorities, this will be used for:
* supporting governance structures
* operate within Government Cluster System to support implementation of government Programme of Action
* establish Health Information Management by introducing management by objectives through the balance score card approach
* explore mechanism for improvement of asset management
Programme two: District Health Services
The largest portion of the budget, an amount of R1,8 billion, which represents an increase of 16,8%, is allocated to our Primary Health Care Services. These are services rendered at clinic and district hospital level. The priorities include:
* continuous availability of medication
* filling of critical clinical vacant funded posts
* procurement of critical medical equipment
* continuous availability of medical consumables
* in the implementation of the Free State Rural Health Strategy we will pay particular attention to provision of efficient mobile clinic services. This will include the possibility of replacing and increasing mobile vehicles and repair the ones that need to be fixed.
Programme three: Emergency Medical Services (EMS)
An amount of R257,3 million is allocated to strengthen the Emergency Medical Services. This allocation is an increase of 16,6% which also needs to take into account the following priorities:
* Strengthen the EMS services, especially considering the up coming FIFA Soccer World Cup.
* R25 million is set aside for capital expenditure for the procurement of 30 new ambulances, 17 new response vehicles and equipment for the rescue vehicles.
* Collaboration with other departments in operating the disaster management centre to ensure that all security and emergency personnel can respond in a coordinated manner when any disaster strikes will be actively sought through regular meetings in appropriate Joint Operations Committees. This Emergency Communications and Disaster Management Centre will be used during the FIFA Soccer World Cup.
* Filling of vacant funded posts to increase number of ambulance personnel thus improving response time.
* Establish a back up communication centre in Thabo Mofutsanyana.
Programme four and five: Regional and Central Hospital Services
Regional and Central Hospital Services are allocated R1,3 billion and R973,4 million, an increase of 10,7% and 24,9% respectively. This is meant to answer to the need of an increasing number of patients we see in these facilities. The priorities for this programme are:
* review the current Public Private Partnership (PPP) contracts and service level agreements for Pelonomi and Universitas Hospitals
* provide nine specialists disciplines as per national Department of Health Facility definitions
* maintain level two and level three psychiatry services
* implement clinical governance programmes
* treatment and prevention of TB and HIV and AIDS at Regional Hospitals
* strengthen outreach and telemedicine to regional hospitals
Programme six: Health Science Training
Health Sciences receives R117,2 million, decrease of 1,6%, to fund the training needs in the department. Pressures on resources in the clinical service delivery programs informed the decision to make less money available for programs at lower priority level.
The transfer of R11 982 million for bursaries to Education Department has further reduced the allocation in this program. Priorities in this program include:
* accreditation of the EMS College
* funding for Free State School of Nursing
* implement skills development programs and learnerships including ABET
* expand capacity to train more nursing sub-categories
(staff nurses and assistant nurses) at Hospital Nursing Schools
Programme seven: Health Care Support Services
The Health Care Support services program is allocated an amount of R81.064 million, an increase of 22.5%. This budget caters for laundry services, trading account and orthotic and prosthetic services.
Programme eight: Health Facilities Management
An amount of R409,9 million is allocated to the program. This implies an increase of 21,8% and will be used to fund:
* the current revitalisation projects at Boitumelo and Pelonomi Hospitals
* finalise infrastructure projects at Thebe, Elizabeth Ross, Diamante hospitals, Bultfontein Clinic.
* planning for Mangaung Hospital and Free State Psychiatric Hospital.
* maintenance of Health Facilities.
Honourable Speaker, the proposed budget allocation seeks to deliver on our mandate of rendering quality comprehensive health services; as well as to contribute in achieving the priorities of the government Programme of Action and Operation Hlasela.
Honourable Speaker, despite the challenges we spoke about we made some achievements mainly attributed to our hard working and committed officials of the department, we would also like to pay tribute to those who passed on during this hour of need and thank those who will be retiring soon.
Conclusion
Motsamaisi wa Dipuisano, ha ke phethela, ntumelle ke lebohe baeti ba rona ba bohlokwa, bakgatha tema le mahatammoho ho tsa Bophelo bobotle. A special word of thanks to the representative of the House of Traditional Leaders, Traditional Healers, Mayors and Councillors, all governance structures, Head of Department and Senior Managers, hard working administrative and clinical personnel, our Donors and Partners, my office staff and our volunteers.
I hereby table vote five.
Thank you.
Issued by: Department of Health, Free State Provincial Government
22 July 2009
