An independent health watchdog will be introduced by April to ensure that clinics and hospitals across the country adhere to quality standards, Deputy Health Minister Dr Molefi Sefularo said on Tuesday.

The National Health Act will be amended to create the watchdog body, which will report to Parliament either directly or through the Health Minister.

Sefularo said although there was already standards office within the health department, it was felt it should not be within the department it was supposed to judge.

"We should therefore separate the authority to ensure that standards are maintained," he said, adding that it needed to be accountable.

It would have wide-ranging powers, including the ability to shut down private or public facilities it deemed unfit.

The national standards it would uphold were still being formulated at a quality summit underway in Boksburg. These would soon be presented to the national health council.

This process started in November last year.

"These core standards reflect the basic requirements expected of all managers for us to provide safe and decent care in South Africa," Sefularo said.

The standards would place patients' rights first, ensuring they were treated with "respect and dignity".

Six areas of priority were patient safety, infection control, the availability of drugs, waiting times, cleanliness and the attitudes of staff.

The health department would visit 1000, or 20% of the entire public service network, by March to monitor progress in these areas and hoped to reach all facilities in the country in the next four years.

"The work on intervening will begin immediately... We are looking at the 18 most distressed districts first," Sefularo said.

The National Treasury has given the department R60-million to set up the programme, but it may cost a lot more.

Last week, Health Minister Aaron Motsoaledi urged health workers to shape up, saying that factors such as staff attitudes and cleanliness in a facility were a direct reflection on management leadership style.

Sefularo reiterated this call for improved leadership: "We cannot sit back and be uninvolved and unconcerned."