Western Cape health MEC Theuns Botha has vowed to go as high as the Constitutional Court to ensure that control of two of Cape Town’s major tertiary hospitals is not shifted to the national government.
|||Western Cape health MEC Theuns Botha has vowed to go as high as the Constitutional Court to ensure that control of two of Cape Town’s major tertiary hospitals is not shifted to the national government.
A furious Botha came out fighting on behalf of Groote Schuur and Tygerberg hospitals on Saturday in response to the suggestion, contained in the ANC’s draft policy document in preparation for its policy conference in June.
He warned the ANC that he would fight the suggested nationalisation of the two hospitals at the highest level.
The paper proposes that major hospitals serve populations beyond their areas, and that it follows that their administration should fall under the national government.
Taking a swipe at the state of other major hospitals nationally, Botha asked why “well-functioning, good hospitals” should be nationalised “so they can end up like the rest of the hospitals under the national government”.
Although the policy document made reference only to Groote Schuur from the Western Cape, Botha told the Cape Argus on Saturday that Tygerberg was also being considered.
Other hospitals mentioned in the document are the troubled Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital in Soweto, and King Edward VIII Hospital in Durban,
The document says further: “It is very costly to operate these facilities as they need specialised professionals and equipment.”
The proposals by the committee, chaired by KwaZulu-Natal premier Zweli Mkhize, come amid a serious drive by the Health Department to overhaul the management of public health facilities.
Health Minister Aaron Motsoeledi recently advertised 92 positions for chief executive officers of hospitals as part of a government plan to improve primary health care. The Western Cape indicated at the time that no provincial hospitals would be affected since they had competent chiefs.
The document says the call came after it emerged that CEOs without a background in health were struggling to run health facilities.
Botha said on Saturday that Cape Town’s tertiary hospitals were already significantly under-funded by the national government. “Those hospitals get certain grants from national government, but these are subsidised by R800 million from the province,” he said, declaring that the hospitals “belong to the Western Cape”.
Meanwhile, the ANC document also raised concerns that some hospitals may not implement its ambitious National Health Insurance (NHI) scheme.
The ANC’s sub-committee on health and education also criticised Planning Minister Trevor Manuel’s diagnostic report, saying it did not provide adequate vision on how a unified health system could be achieved.
The paper cautions that “risk management systems” are needed to prevent some provinces from failing to implement NHI.
“Another challenge that needs a resolution is the possibility of some provinces opting out of the proposed NHI implementation plan,” it says.
However, the committee neither elaborates on the matter nor mentions any specific provinces by name.
The committee said Manuel’s conceptualisation of NHI differed from policy positions of the ANC’s national executive committee (NEC), and a report at its national general council in Durban in 2010.
“Further, the section of the National Development Plan that deals with health could have provided a more comprehensive long-term view of health, and goes beyond grappling with the challenges of HIV and provides a vision of a better health 20 years from now.” - Weekend Argus
