Issued by: Gauteng Provincial Government
19 June 2001
The Gauteng Provincial Government has rejected newspaper claims that Gauteng hospitals are on the brink of collapse and says government has made significant strides in addressing the massive infrastructural backlogs in health and other areas of social service delivery.
The Gauteng Departments of Health and the Department of Transport and Public Works have been working closely together to improve health facilities in the province. The Citizen newspaper correctly points out that the provincial government conducted an audit of health facilities in 1999 in order to inform the Medium Term Expenditure Framework. The audit was conducted precisely to clearly identify problem areas and the results of the audit have informed the development of a strategy to address these. The strategy includes the implementation of a plan to address the maintenance and upgrading of health facilities and the development of new facilities across the province, as well as the development and implementation of a maintenance management framework.
There have been significant increases in the allocation of resources to health care infrastructure. This is in line with the provincial government's emphasis on investment in social and economic infrastructure in order to boost the economy, job creation and access to social services.
The Gauteng Department of Health has almost doubled its allocation for the Hospital Reconstruction and Rehabilitation Programme from R55 million in the 2000/2001 financial year to R102 million in the 2001/2002 financial year.
In addition to increases for existing health facilities, allocations for capital expenditure on new health facilities have also increased significantly. Health MEC Gwen Ramakgopa announced in the provincial legislature recently that the 2001/2002 Capex budget of R362 792 000 for the Gauteng Health Department represented a 42,8% increase over the previous financial year.
This will enable the Health Department to concentrate on general upgrading and large-scale maintenance projects at health institutions. Among the projects envisaged for the year are the extension or renovation of primary health care facilities in areas of need, new psychiatric wards in general hospitals and the renovation of casualties and high care units.
The total budget allocation for the 2001/2 financial year for both Capital Works and Equipment is R 649 746 000. This represents an increase of 55.5% over the previous financial year. A conditional grant of R50 million has been allocated for the completion of the new Pretoria Academic Hospital.
Ramakgopa said her Department's budget also provides for reserves for emergencies such as the bursting of pipes, generators, roof leaks, lifts and repair of other essential items.
The MEC added that the recent emergency at Helen Joseph Hospital was the result of the inherited maintenance backlogs. Outdated design and construction had made it difficult to detect the problem at an earlier stage.
Contact: Annette Griessel at 082 563 3614