Deputy health minister Molefi Sefularo announced these and other sweeping measures to deal with appalling conditions at public and private hospitals and clinics.
Sefularo named the five worst performing hospitals in the country and said they did not meet the basic required health standards - from cleanliness and patient safety to staff attitudes and availability of medicine.
The hospitals, among 117 targeted for improvement, were:
Sefularo said the National Health Act would be amended to allow the introduction of an industry watchdog, the National Quality Management and Accreditation Body, comprising health experts by April. The body will have oversight over public and private hospitals.
The department will also investigate the possible introduction of "stricter" punitive measures for negligence and non-performance.
He said a new call centre through which disgruntled patients will be able to register complaints would be open by the end of the year.
Sefularo said the health department wanted to be more involved in the processes through which negligent health professionals were disciplined by regulatory bodies such as the Health Professions Council of SA. The introduction of new technologies to deal with problems such as long queues at clinics and public hospitals will also be investigated. Sefularo said the moves were prompted by "horror stories" emanating from public hospitals.
"These [hospitals] have been selected based on reviews, reports, surveys, appraisals but also on patient complaints and reports in the media . [like] the patient who died in the queue, the baby [who was] bathed in boiling water."
Wits University public health expert Professor Laetitia Rispel said the new watchdog body was a good initiative, but warned that it would need to be given "enough decision-making powers" for the industry to take it seriously.
"The government has always been good with drawing up policies, but the implementation has not been good," Rispel said.
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