It is unbelievable that the people who are fighting so hard for the implementation of National Health Insurance and (Universal Health Coverage) UHC have completely failed to manage the existing health system and seem to be completely blind to the magnitude of the disarray that plagues healthcare in the country.
The Sunday Times last week spelled out the horrific state of Gauteng's shambolic healthcare standards which can be seen as an example of what is happening countrywide.
After visiting several Gauteng hospitals, the only hospital that was found to be better managed, with patient satisfaction, where the only complaint from patients was the long queues. This can hardly be blamed on the hospital as the government has allowed people from neighbouring states to exploit our health services by failing to enforce effective border control. An influx of undocumented immigrants has continued unabated, as seen through the number of women that successfully come to SA to join their husbands who also also undocumented immigrants.
Once there is overcrowding in health facilities it is impossible to maintain the required standards of patient care. The North West health department was placed under administration more than five years ago, but it is still in the news for all the wrong reasons. It is good that the government has promised, according to Dr Olive Shisane, that it will priorities fixing all the areas that need to be fixed before the implementation of NHI and UHC, which is scheduled to be achieved by 2030 according to the WHO.
Cometh Dube-Makholwa, Midrand
READER LETTER | Government fails to manage existing health system
Image: Dorothy Kgosi
It is unbelievable that the people who are fighting so hard for the implementation of National Health Insurance and (Universal Health Coverage) UHC have completely failed to manage the existing health system and seem to be completely blind to the magnitude of the disarray that plagues healthcare in the country.
The Sunday Times last week spelled out the horrific state of Gauteng's shambolic healthcare standards which can be seen as an example of what is happening countrywide.
After visiting several Gauteng hospitals, the only hospital that was found to be better managed, with patient satisfaction, where the only complaint from patients was the long queues. This can hardly be blamed on the hospital as the government has allowed people from neighbouring states to exploit our health services by failing to enforce effective border control. An influx of undocumented immigrants has continued unabated, as seen through the number of women that successfully come to SA to join their husbands who also also undocumented immigrants.
Once there is overcrowding in health facilities it is impossible to maintain the required standards of patient care. The North West health department was placed under administration more than five years ago, but it is still in the news for all the wrong reasons. It is good that the government has promised, according to Dr Olive Shisane, that it will priorities fixing all the areas that need to be fixed before the implementation of NHI and UHC, which is scheduled to be achieved by 2030 according to the WHO.
Cometh Dube-Makholwa, Midrand
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