Already humiliated by recent scathing headlines about their services, Gauteng hospitals are also failing to comply with occupational health and safety regulations, while others are grappling with limited availability of essential medicines.
Gauteng Health & Wellness Committee chairperson Ezra Letsoal last Friday tabled the first quarter report, flagging several hospitals for their lack of safety compliance, and said another concern was the decrease in the percentage of the budget spent on township enterprises.
Letsoalo told News24 the committee had debated the matter and outlined which facilities were affected.
In the meantime, he said, the department is expected to provide reports on the causes of non-compliance with occupational health regulations.
“The department must provide a detailed report on the decline in performance on the availability of essential medicine and put a mitigation plan in place. It is also expected to provide a detailed report on plans to improve the target on the township enterprises by 31 October.”
In the report tabled in the legislature, Letsoalo said the overall budget performance had increased by 6% – from 51% in 2022/23 to 57% in the 2023/24 financial year – but that the department was likely to overspend by 135.4%.
According to the report, the total appropriation adjusted budget for the department for the 2023/24 financial year was R62.5bn.
By the end of the fourth quarter, the department had spent R61.3bn, bringing it to 98.1% of its overall appropriation budget.
“The committee is noting, with concern… that (the department) is likely to overspend by the end of the financial year…. the over-expenditure of 135.4% is being noted,” Letsoalo wrote.
“This is a further concern as the department has a commitment due to R150 000 000 legal claims pledges, which were not processed in the last quarter.”
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