Too few inspectors for all South Africa’s hospitals and clinics 

12 October 2019

The Office of Health Standards Compliance has admitted that it does not have enough inspectors to inspect the approximately 4184 hospitals and clinics in South Africa due to a lack of money and other resources.

The FF Plus was shocked to learn that, according to the Office's announcement, there are only 44 inspectors who have to do all the work in the entire country.

As a result, many hospitals and clinics are simply not inspected to ensure that they comply with the legal requirements for delivering safe and high-quality health care to South Africans. This institution falls under the National Health Act (12 of 2013).

This explains why the infrastructure at hospitals is in such a poor condition and why equipment is not maintained or in working order. There is no money available to fill the vacant positions.

Even though the Office tries its very best to get to most of the hospitals and clinics, it is obviously an impossible task. During the 2018/19 financial year, only 80 institutions were inspected.

The FF Plus will ask the Minister of Health to urgently address this problem and to ensure that every province is provided with a sufficient number of inspectors who have enough resources at their disposal to perform this important task.

This problem is the reason why many hospitals are in such a state of disrepair and why there is little to no service delivery.

Issued by Philip van Staden, FF Plus MP and chief spokesperson: Health, 12 October 2019