CEO Competency Report: Department of Health should focus on getting the basics right

The Democratic Alliance (DA) has in its possession a report on the assessment of top management at public hospitals in South Africa, which was compiled by the Development Bank of Southern Africa (DBSA). This report was commissioned by the National Department of Health (NDoH) to investigate the competence of hospital CEO's and District Managers. The report clearly demonstrates the poor level of oversight of that currently characterizes the department.

That the NDoH had to commission the DBSA to compile this report is proof of how out of touch the department is with the problems facing hospitals and clinics. The DA will be submitting questions to the Minister of Health to find out why this report contains so little detail and how much it cost to commission. In addition, the DA will submit questions to obtain crucial information that this report appears to be missing.

The report consists of nine separate chapters; one dedicated to each province, and provides the demographics of the hospital managers and district CEO's, including their salary level, qualifications, experience, competency and an overall score card. Each chapter ends with a CEO self-assessment on their perception of the strengths and weaknesses of the NDoH and their own abilities. The disturbing information that is revealed in this report is not at all probed or assessed.

In fact, no external or independent assessment of the competency of CEOs is made further than information any employer should have readily on hand. The report does provide small snippets of insight into the level of competency of CEO's in that 2% of CEO's have only matric as their highest qualification and only 73% have a health qualification as their highest qualification.

However, it does not make any objective assessment of the competency and capability of CEO's and gives the impression that the NDoH would prefer to bury its head in the sand rather than face up to the shocking quality of hospital management in the public sector. The day to day functioning of public hospitals and clinics show clearly what this report does not effectively address; and that is, the management of hospitals is sub standard and that CEOs are clearly incapable of performing the task at hand; as a result, the patients suffer.

The DA recognizes that commissioning such a report is a step in the right direction when it comes to resolving issues of disjuncture between the NDoH and the actual running of the public health system. We welcome attempts by Minister of Health, Aaron Motsoaledi to fix this problem and implement regulations to ensure better qualified CEOs and District Managers.

However, if genuine change is to be made in the public health sector, more in-depth, honest and objective information needs to be communicated to the NDoH. It is only from a direct assessment of the situation that steps can be taken to fix the problem. Fixing the basics, such as hospital management, should be the priority of the NDoH.

The majority of the South African population relies completely on the public health system for their medical needs; as such, the poor quality of hospital management and almost non-existent oversight of public healthcare facilities needs to be urgently addressed. Fixing these problems does not require a complete overhaul, but rather a concerted effort to focus on getting the basics right.

Statement issued by Mike Waters MP, DA Shadow Minister of Health, August 10 2011

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DA welcomes ruling on travelgate MPs

The Democratic Alliance (DA) welcomes the Eastern Cape High Court ruling that it provide the Centre for Social Accountability two schedules of the names of MPs who were involved in the travelgate scandal.  The DA will be writing to the speaker to furnish the official opposition with these lists and to question why it has taken such a long time to take the necessary steps to recover the money from MPs.

From the outset, the DA argued that the initial decision to withdraw the mandate from the liquidators to recover the money from fraudulent MPs, and instead buy up the debtors' book of one of the travel agents involved was unacceptable. When the Parliamentary Oversight Authority took this decision, to which the DA objected, I received a clear undertaking from the Speaker that the 60 errant MPs would be pursued and outstanding money recovered.

However, it is apparent that such proceedings against these individuals never transpired. I was forced to write to the then Public Protector in March 2009, requesting an investigation into the debt buy-up. No investigation was ever launched.

In April 2009, the DA walked out of the Small Multiparty Committee which was set up to finalise the travelgate enquiry and report back to Parliament's presiding officers, as it was nothing more than an attempt to whitewash the matter and not take the necessary steps to pursue, where possible, outstanding moneys.

The integrity of Parliament was severely compromised by its failure to fully resolve the travelgate saga through a speedy judicial process and to institute criminal proceedings against directly implicated MPs and to compel them to repay the money they owe. This judgement is therefore highly significant, and will go a long way in finally bringing this scandal to a close.

The DA further welcomes the decision by Parliament to not appeal the decision and to hand over the requested documents. This good faith must not stop here, and immediate action must be taken by Parliament to collect all outstanding moneys which are owed to it by travelgate MPs.

I will be writing to the Speaker of the National Assembly, Max Sisulu, requesting that the lists of names be handed over to the official opposition and all other political parties so that we can continue to ensure that action is taken against guilty individuals. I will also inquire as to why it has taken so long for such action to be taken, in light of the previous undertaking made by Parliament.

Statement issued by Ian Davidson MP, DA Chief Whip, August 10 2011

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