DA calls for official enquiry into qualifications of health facility managers

The Democratic Alliance (DA) has written to the Minister of Health (letter attached) to request an official enquiry into the qualifications of hospital CEOs and clinic managers. We will also be pushing for the development of minimum criteria for hospital managers so that patients in the public sector can be assured at the very least of a well-managed health facility.

While some of our health facilities are run by skilled and dedicated managers who deserve to be publicly commended for their work, we believe that the cause of many deaths from South Africa's cholera epidemic is the mismanagement of health facilities by managers who have neither the experience nor the training to handle their responsibilities properly.

The example that should affect us all most closely is that of the CEO of the East London Hospital Complex, who was responsible for the dilapidated state of Frere Hospital so tragically exposed in 2007, has a degree in politics, a qualification as an ANC councillor and no training or experience in hospital management.

But replies to parliamentary questions which the DA has been asking over the past year show that hospital CEOs and clinic managers often do not have any experience or training for the job, or have only undertaken a certificate course lasting a few weeks in health management.

Cholera is not a disease that any person should die of; basic primary health care and the availability of simple rehydration fluid should keep anyone infected with the disease alive. The lives of many South Africans could be saved if we focused on one of the basic fundamentals of good health care - proper hospital and clinic management.

Dear Minister Hogan

Request for official enquiry into hospital management

In the face of the deadly cholera epidemic that South Africa faces, I believe it is even more important than usual, given that cholera is an easily managed problem at primary health care level, that we give attention to continuing problems that many of our hospitals and clinics face in delivering basic health care.

One of these problems is health facility management.

While many of our hospitals and clinics are run by exceptionally skilled and dedicated managers, there are many where basic services are not being delivered because of poor quality management. I have encountered this on many personal visits I and my colleagues have conducted, and it is also evident from replies to parliamentary questions I have received that many health facility managers have neither experience nor training for the job.

I would like to ask whether it would be possible to conduct an official commission of enquiry into the qualifications and skills of every health facility in the country, as a contribution towards improving the quality of care available to South African patients.

Kind regards,

Mike Waters, MP

Statement issued by Mike Waters, MP, Democratic Alliance spokesperson on health, February 8 2009