Over 5 million patients seen in health facilities in Gauteng

A total of over 5 million patients visited various Gauteng health facilities from the first quarter of the 2017/18 financial year to the third quarter which ended on December 31.

This was revealed by the report of the Gauteng department of health tabled before the portfolio committee of health in the province on Tuesday.

In the report presented by health MEC Gwen Ramokgopa‚ the City of Johannesburg recorded the highest patient headcount at 1.83 million‚ followed by the City of Ekurhuleni with 1.3 million and the City of Tshwane with just over one million patients.

Some of the patients who walked into public health facilities in Gauteng were from the other provinces‚ some even from the other parts of the African continent.

Ramokgopa told the committee that her department was still under financial pressure as demand for health services was outstripping the available resources.

“The untenable financial position of the department with accumulated accruals and huge liabilities whist demand for services and disease burden remained high‚ necessitating the establishment of the executive sub-committee on health finances….Budget adjustment helped ease the situation albeit minimally given the gravity of the situation‚” Ramokgopa said.

During the adjustment budget presented by finance MEC Barbara Creecy in November‚ the Gauteng health department received the highest adjustment of R1.7-billion to help deal with its problems.

Ramokgopa said the department was busy trying to refill key senior positions which were left vacant during an exodus which began in December. The departure of senior personnel happened during the arbitration hearings of the Life Esidimeni crisis which left about 140 psychiatric patients dead.

“Management instability and capacity remained a challenge with resignations of at least eight senior managers to date. An intervention task team to strengthen capacity‚ systems and controls as well as clinical governance was made in consultation with minister of health [Aaron Motsoaledi] and Premier [David Makhura[‚” she explained.

The Gauteng health portfolio committee meeting is being held in the provincial legislature in the Johannesburg inner city.