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Johannesburg - A body to police hospital standards would be set up before the National Health Insurance system is introduced, Health Minister Aaron Motsoaledi announced on Wednesday.
"Before being accredited for the NHI an institution will first need to go through a certain quality standard process. Hence we will need to establish an office of standard compliance via statute of parliament," Motsoaledi told the national consultation on quality health services, in Kempton Park.
The consultation was meant to lay ground work for the implementation of the NHI in 2012.
Motsoaledi said hospitals would have to satisfy the department that they paid attention to quality health care before being made part of the NHI.
"The NHI is not going to be an event but a process."
He said the department would start with the poorest districts and help them to prepare for the NHI.
Motsoaledi highlighted six key areas on which the hospitals would have to focus in order to be part of the NHI.
These included cleanliness, safety and security of patients, reduced queues at hospitals, infection control measures and drugs stock-outs.
He emphasised the importance in the change of attitudes of health care workers and that of proper management.
Motsoaledi admitted that state health facilities were in a poor condition and needed attention.
Diseases such TB and HIV/Aids had also put more strain on these facilities' ability to provide proper care for their patients.
Other pandemics including the death of newborn babies, non-communicable diseases and injury caused by violence were indicative of the system's failures.
No excuses
Shortages in nurses and doctors he said, were not unique to South Africa and were therefore not an excuse for not providing quality health care.
"We have been over-using the human resource excuse, but there are countries with even lesser human resources that are still performing," said Motsoaledi.
Countries like Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Slovakia who had a smaller budgets than South Africa were also performing better, he said.
He emphasised the importance in the change of attitudes of health care workers and that of proper management.
"If I'm a construction worker, my attitude (towards my work) cannot be the same as someone working with human life."
Motsoaledi said that he would meet with health professionals' organisations, to gather their suggestions as to how the NHI should be structured.
Also speaking at the consultation were Britain's High Commissioner to SA, Nicola Brewer, former CEO of the National Health System (NHS), Lord Nigel Crisp and Paul Durham of the Care Quality Commission.
They gave presentations on how their country had implemented its NHS, which started in 1948.
Motsoaledi said his department would draw from experiences of their British counterparts in order to improve the NHI.
"Before being accredited for the NHI an institution will first need to go through a certain quality standard process. Hence we will need to establish an office of standard compliance via statute of parliament," Motsoaledi told the national consultation on quality health services, in Kempton Park.
The consultation was meant to lay ground work for the implementation of the NHI in 2012.
Motsoaledi said hospitals would have to satisfy the department that they paid attention to quality health care before being made part of the NHI.
"The NHI is not going to be an event but a process."
He said the department would start with the poorest districts and help them to prepare for the NHI.
Motsoaledi highlighted six key areas on which the hospitals would have to focus in order to be part of the NHI.
These included cleanliness, safety and security of patients, reduced queues at hospitals, infection control measures and drugs stock-outs.
He emphasised the importance in the change of attitudes of health care workers and that of proper management.
Motsoaledi admitted that state health facilities were in a poor condition and needed attention.
Diseases such TB and HIV/Aids had also put more strain on these facilities' ability to provide proper care for their patients.
Other pandemics including the death of newborn babies, non-communicable diseases and injury caused by violence were indicative of the system's failures.
No excuses
Shortages in nurses and doctors he said, were not unique to South Africa and were therefore not an excuse for not providing quality health care.
"We have been over-using the human resource excuse, but there are countries with even lesser human resources that are still performing," said Motsoaledi.
Countries like Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Slovakia who had a smaller budgets than South Africa were also performing better, he said.
He emphasised the importance in the change of attitudes of health care workers and that of proper management.
"If I'm a construction worker, my attitude (towards my work) cannot be the same as someone working with human life."
Motsoaledi said that he would meet with health professionals' organisations, to gather their suggestions as to how the NHI should be structured.
Also speaking at the consultation were Britain's High Commissioner to SA, Nicola Brewer, former CEO of the National Health System (NHS), Lord Nigel Crisp and Paul Durham of the Care Quality Commission.
They gave presentations on how their country had implemented its NHS, which started in 1948.
Motsoaledi said his department would draw from experiences of their British counterparts in order to improve the NHI.
