Hospitals to recruit skilled managers

NEW regulations will soon be implemented to correct anomalies related to skill levels and the competency of managers in public hospitals, Health Minister Aaron Motsoaledi said yesterday.

"From now on our hospitals will be managed by appropriately qualified and competent managers at an appropriate designation," he told journalists in Pretoria.

He said hospitals were not designated in accordance with uniform norms and standards, as was the practice internationally, and this caused confusion.

There was also confusion about what a hospital CEO may or may not do. He said: "In some instances you find that a hospital is managed by a person who is at clerical level. If we want to implement National Health Insurance and provide quality services, we need to correct these anomalies."

Motsoaledi was speaking after a meeting of the National Health Council, which he chairs. The meeting was attended by MECs from all provinces.

He said the regulations would specify that no hospital is managed by a person below the level of director-general in the public service. "They will ensure that people who are appointed to manage public hospitals are suitably qualified for the job."