Today, I join you at the doorstep of a monument symbolising the dire state of our healthcare system, which is in crisis, with public healthcare on the brink of collapse.
Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital, much like most of our other healthcare facilities, is burdened by challenges from being shamefully under-resourced with decaying infrastructure, which has led to its near-complete failure to deliver quality healthcare to all patients.
What we must confront is the reality that the systematic deterioration of our healthcare system is a consequence of decades of incompetence, mismanagement, and corruption.
It is clear that while ordinary South Africans bear the brunt of a dysfunctional public healthcare system, the decision-makers responsible for its near collapse are the same individuals who benefit from private medical aid, thus shielding themselves from the consequences of their poor leadership.
This is why one of the highlights of the ActionSA Health policy is the withdrawal of all private medical aid contributions for public office holders and elected representatives. Instead, Ministers and Parliamentarians will be mandated to utilise only public healthcare services, without preferential treatment at our public facilities.
Make no mistake, this will be an effective mechanism to ensure that those entrusted with the responsibility will work exclusively to deliver quality public health services from our public facilities.
Recognising the severe fiscal realities facing our healthcare system, we are committed to reducing administrative budgets to just 10% or less of the national health expenditure, which we believe will ensure sufficient funding is redirected towards critical aspects such as frontline health services.
We are also committed to ensuring that salaries for professionals correspond appropriately to the levels of responsibility and skills they offer. If necessary, a specialised chamber will be established within the public service sector, akin to those for magistrates, to cater to essential skills.
We will make public service attractive and increase our ability to retain professionals, because through the doctors who have been on strike over the past few days, it has become evident that most young professionals want to give back to communities at the end of their training but are denied the ability to do so by the current government.
We will ensure that employment positions are adequately funded to acquire the necessary skills. We recognise that it is the primary duty of the government to ensure sufficient funding for human capital in the health system and to guarantee that every facility has the necessary human resource capacity.
This will result in our public health system being equipped with a professional workforce that is better compensated and capable of effectively managing our healthcare facilities.
We will also prioritise the timely payment of essential services such as telephone, water, electricity, and food through a well-managed budget. The procurement of equipment for our facilities will be conducted directly from manufacturers, leveraging the buying power of the state to negotiate fair prices. A national health system should not merely accept prices but actively negotiate them, acting as a shrewd negotiator on behalf of the taxpayer.
The public health system serves as the primary training platform for healthcare professionals. We will ensure that those entrusted with training our healthcare professionals are adequately compensated as full-time employees, eliminating the need for them to seek additional income through moonlighting or taking on extra responsibilities and workload.
We will implement a monitoring and healthcare educational system that ensures that we are able to assess value for money and that the training institutions are adequately resourced.
We will bring back Nursing Colleges that are embedded and linked to the training platform, so that we attract young women and men back into the noble profession of nursing.
There will be no financial barriers to entering the nursing profession like what has happened under the current government, and stipends will be paid to trainees because they will provide a service as they are in training.
It is unacceptable that we have young health care professionals willing to serve society but sitting without employment. Not only will they be employed, but their employment will also be sustained as a lifelong career.
ActionSA will ensure that medico-legal liability expenses will be reduced, by introducing the no fault compensation scheme to the public health system, for a better management of medical related accidents that occur through care.
Safety at our healthcare facilities will also be prioritised by ensuring the insourcing of security personnel.
We will introduce line budgeting and a reformed procurement system for each facility to have a maintenance department and institutionally controlled maintenance budget. Capex will be based on quotations acquired from original equipment manufacturers.
The procurement fiasco we saw during Covid will never be repeated under ActionSA.
Under ActionSA, the future of our healthcare system will not revolve solely around treating illness, but rather promoting good health. This will be accomplished by advocating for healthy lifestyle choices. Additionally, we will strive to foster a healthy society by emphasizing proper nutrition and reducing harmful practices.
Let us work together to ensure all humans are treated with dignity in our society.
ActionSA’s Plan to Fix SA’s Public Healthcare System and Ensure Quality Healthcare for All
Today, I join you at the doorstep of a monument symbolising the dire state of our healthcare system, which is in crisis, with public healthcare on the brink of collapse.
Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital, much like most of our other healthcare facilities, is burdened by challenges from being shamefully under-resourced with decaying infrastructure, which has led to its near-complete failure to deliver quality healthcare to all patients.
What we must confront is the reality that the systematic deterioration of our healthcare system is a consequence of decades of incompetence, mismanagement, and corruption.
It is clear that while ordinary South Africans bear the brunt of a dysfunctional public healthcare system, the decision-makers responsible for its near collapse are the same individuals who benefit from private medical aid, thus shielding themselves from the consequences of their poor leadership.
This is why one of the highlights of the ActionSA Health policy is the withdrawal of all private medical aid contributions for public office holders and elected representatives. Instead, Ministers and Parliamentarians will be mandated to utilise only public healthcare services, without preferential treatment at our public facilities.
Make no mistake, this will be an effective mechanism to ensure that those entrusted with the responsibility will work exclusively to deliver quality public health services from our public facilities.
Recognising the severe fiscal realities facing our healthcare system, we are committed to reducing administrative budgets to just 10% or less of the national health expenditure, which we believe will ensure sufficient funding is redirected towards critical aspects such as frontline health services.
We are also committed to ensuring that salaries for professionals correspond appropriately to the levels of responsibility and skills they offer. If necessary, a specialised chamber will be established within the public service sector, akin to those for magistrates, to cater to essential skills.
We will make public service attractive and increase our ability to retain professionals, because through the doctors who have been on strike over the past few days, it has become evident that most young professionals want to give back to communities at the end of their training but are denied the ability to do so by the current government.
We will ensure that employment positions are adequately funded to acquire the necessary skills. We recognise that it is the primary duty of the government to ensure sufficient funding for human capital in the health system and to guarantee that every facility has the necessary human resource capacity.
This will result in our public health system being equipped with a professional workforce that is better compensated and capable of effectively managing our healthcare facilities.
We will also prioritise the timely payment of essential services such as telephone, water, electricity, and food through a well-managed budget. The procurement of equipment for our facilities will be conducted directly from manufacturers, leveraging the buying power of the state to negotiate fair prices. A national health system should not merely accept prices but actively negotiate them, acting as a shrewd negotiator on behalf of the taxpayer.
The public health system serves as the primary training platform for healthcare professionals. We will ensure that those entrusted with training our healthcare professionals are adequately compensated as full-time employees, eliminating the need for them to seek additional income through moonlighting or taking on extra responsibilities and workload.
We will implement a monitoring and healthcare educational system that ensures that we are able to assess value for money and that the training institutions are adequately resourced.
We will bring back Nursing Colleges that are embedded and linked to the training platform, so that we attract young women and men back into the noble profession of nursing.
There will be no financial barriers to entering the nursing profession like what has happened under the current government, and stipends will be paid to trainees because they will provide a service as they are in training.
It is unacceptable that we have young health care professionals willing to serve society but sitting without employment. Not only will they be employed, but their employment will also be sustained as a lifelong career.
ActionSA will ensure that medico-legal liability expenses will be reduced, by introducing the no fault compensation scheme to the public health system, for a better management of medical related accidents that occur through care.
Safety at our healthcare facilities will also be prioritised by ensuring the insourcing of security personnel.
We will introduce line budgeting and a reformed procurement system for each facility to have a maintenance department and institutionally controlled maintenance budget. Capex will be based on quotations acquired from original equipment manufacturers.
The procurement fiasco we saw during Covid will never be repeated under ActionSA.
Under ActionSA, the future of our healthcare system will not revolve solely around treating illness, but rather promoting good health. This will be accomplished by advocating for healthy lifestyle choices. Additionally, we will strive to foster a healthy society by emphasizing proper nutrition and reducing harmful practices.
Let us work together to ensure all humans are treated with dignity in our society.