A ministerial medical task team appointed by the minister of defence has made recommendations on how to improve the country's three military hospitals, the department said on Monday.

The task team, consisting of nine independent health care professionals, looked at human resources, military readiness, health services, facilities, and equipment at the hospitals from March 10 to April 21.

The defence department said the task team made eight broad recommendations and ten specific ones.

They included reviewing human resource practices and policies, paying commuted overtime, and filling vacant funded posts within three months.

It further recommended investigating the hospitals' repair and maintenance programmes, personnel turnover, the rigid application of policy, and the increase in medical outsourcing.

Following the team's findings a plan with timeframes was drafted.

"Three sub-committees for the implementation process were established, namely the human resources, infrastructure, and the health care sub-committees."

The hospitals are in Pretoria, Cape Town, and Bloemfontein.