Gauteng Health Department is in a parlous state, despite intervention
The current financial state of the Gauteng Department of Health is a major risk to the public purse, finance MEC Barbara Creecy warned on Thursday. Creecy delivered her medium-term budget policy statement in the Gauteng provincial legislature, saying it was prepared in an economic environment characterised by subdued growth rates. The crisis in the department took centre stage in the provincial budget adjustments, receiving the biggest adjustment in the medium-term budget. The total budget for the Gauteng provincial government has been adjusted from R108bn‚ presented in March‚ to R112bn for the 2017-18 financial year. Creecy said weaknesses in the department stem from misalignment between increases in the burden of disease, population, medical inflation, budget growth, as well as immigration. The situation was also influenced by a steep increase in the number of medico-legal claims, as well as "less than ideal" standards and tools of internal management that led to R1.9bn in irregul...
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