King Cetshwayo District preparing for NHI

THE King Cetshwayo District has already begun paving the way for the full implementation of the National Health Insurance (NHI).

This according to Deputy Director General for NHI in the province, Mfowethu Zungu, who said many projects and programmes are being conducted in the district to ensure readiness for the health financing system.

He said in line with the national core standards, work is being done in the district to ensure equality, improvement of staff attitude, cleanliness and the upgrade of infrastructure of health facilities.

‘We are almost done with upgrades at Lower uMfolozi War Memorial Regional Hospital and have invested a lot of money for upgrades at Ngwelezana Hospital.

‘We are building infrastructure that responds to modern technology so that not all patients are transferred to iNkosi Albert Luthuli Hospital in Durban.

‘Even in small facilities such as kwaMagwaza, you see a lot of infrastructural improvement.

In Nkandla we have built a facility for the training of nurses. At Mbongolwane Hospital we are building a new pharmacy department and other infrastructure we will gradually phased in,’ Zungu said.

He said they are also working on ensuring all hospital and clinic records are electronic to ensure that when the NHI is implemented, every patient has a unique identifier number.

‘Even if you visit a different province and you need medication, health facilities are able to access your records and provide assistance,’ he said.

‘The National Health Insurance (NHI) will ensure that all South Africans, employed or unemployed, are provided with essential healthcare.

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‘It will allow South Africans access to comprehensive healthcare services free of charge at accredited health facilities such as clinics, hospitals and private health practitioners closest to where people live and work. This will be done using an NHI card.

‘When we budget for health in the country, we budget over R200-billion a year, but a large amount ends up in the private sector. This does not benefit people in rural areas.

He said many people are not able to visit private doctors or facilities closer to them because they can’t afford to and have to travel many kilometres to a public facility.

‘A large part of our population relies on the public health sector and that often leads to overcrowding and the quality of health care is then compromised. The NHI seeks to change that,’ Zungu said.

In KZN NHI is currently being piloted at three districts – Amajuba, Umzinyathi and Umgungundlovu.

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