Health

Health Facilities survey

The Office of Health Standards Compliance (OHSC) presented its findings on health facilities in South Africa to Parliament. As part of its investigations, the Office measured these institutions through a number of mechanisms including: patient rights, patient safety/clinical governance/clinical care, clinical support services, public health, leadership and corporate governance, operational management, and facilities and infrastructure. Clinics and hospitals face many challenges yet across the board the issue seems to be with leadership and corporate governance above all else. The OHSC stressed the importance of how poor management has negatively affected healthcare facilities. The most common areas needing improvement at clinics were: cleanliness, improve patient safety, improve availability and supply of medicines, infection prevention and control, positive and caring attitudes. The policies given to guide staff were often not available or are outdated and patients are not treated with respect and their privacy is compromised when they are consulted in open areas. In its survey of hospitals, it found procedures to manage queues and waiting times were not followed and no triage was followed in these areas; in some facilities, the respect and dignity of patients is compromised as patients are found to be sleeping on the floor and left unattended; poor storage of medical records, lack of cleanliness and poor waste management. The average scores for hospitals per province were: Eastern Cape 42%, Free State 49%, Gauteng 58%, KwaZulu-Natal 52%, Limpopo 37%, Mpumalanga 44%, North West 43%, Northern Cape 42%, Western Cape 47%. Clinics fared worse. MPs were disturbed by the findings and pointed out that leadership was the problem for under-performing healthcare institutions. They voiced concern that the OHSC is not sufficiently resourced or empowered to ensure full compliance with its recommendations. The OHSC urged the Committee to push for the promulgation of standards to create a firm legislation. This promulgation would ensure that non-compliance could be acted upon by the OHSC and the Minister of Health to ensure that healthcare facilities are run correctly.