KZN’s turnaround plan cuts overspending and fraud
Health MEC Dr Sibongiseni Dhlomo released his six-month service delivery report in the provincial legislature yesterday, indicating that R9,6-billion, less than half of the department’s R21-billion allocation had been spent so far.
Under previous MEC Peggy Nkonyeni, the health department’s over-expediture was close to R2-billion.
‘Major financial management and governance reforms have improved expenditure planning, increased accountability and instilled fiscal discipline,’ said Dhlomo.
Part of the turnaround strategy involved taking swift action against corrupt staff members, and 377 cases of fraud and corruption had been recorded by the end of June.
The department has set up a special investigative unit to speed up cases, and this was working closely with the Hawks and the police.
‘By the time we suspend the staff members, we have a very clean case against them so it doesn’t take us longer than two months to bring charges against them,’ said Dhlomo.
So far, eight staff members have been fired, six have received final written warnings and nine others have resigned.
Former head of department Dr Busi Nyembezi and financial officer Sipho Buthelezi are amongst those who have been arrested in connection with tender fraud amounting to some R200-million.
Dhlomo paid tribute to Nyembezi’s successor, Dr Sibongile Zungu, for driving the turnaround strategy.
According to Zungu, there has been ‘an array of fraud’, but that most involved theft linked to the supply chain management. However, some involved staff misrepresenting their qualifications.
The department had streamlined its supplier base and was in the process of completing its asset register.
Despite the huge strides made to address the province’s management weaknesses, Dhlomo reported that a shortage of key health workers was still a major stumbling block to service delivery.
Almost three-quarters (73.7%) of pharmacists’ posts ‘ some 1 190 posts — remain vacant. More than seven in ten medical specialists’ posts (72.4%) and over half of doctors’ posts (52.4%) are vacant.
The province is also short of 4 424 professional nurses, who are the backbone of the health system ‘ a vacancy rate of 28.4%.
‘You advertise the posts and wait but sometimes the people are just not there to fill them,’ said Dhlomo.
Despite financial pressures, one-third of all patients receiving antiretroviral medication countrywide are located in this province. Currently, over 345 000 patients are receiving ARVs. However, some 88 000 additional patients initially enrolled for treatment have been lost ‘ either dying, defaulting or disappearing.
The province’s HIV testing campaign launched in April has tested 710,000 people and only one-fifth were HIV positive.
Meanwhile, the department has managed to cut by almost half the rate at which HIV positive mothers transmit the virus to their babies, down form 16% to 8.8%.
Describing tuberculosis as a ‘crisis’, Dhomo said almost 30,000 cases had been diagnosed by August and that the cure rate was 63,7%.
‘The complexities attached to healthcare delivery, coupled with the challenges of a seriously constrained financial environment, exacerbates the challenges we face in rendering services,’ said Dhlomo.
‘Nonetheless, we are achieving substantial successes in many areas.’ ‘ Health-e News Service.
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