Fund calls for full state control over where private sector doctors work
Board of Healthcare Funders calls for better planning and regulations to enforce efficient allocation of human resources
The government should consider regulating where private sector doctors and specialists work, in order to distribute their services more evenly across the country, the Board of Healthcare Funders (BHF) says. "The disproportionate distribution of health-care professionals is a concern. Better planning and regulations are required to enforce efficient allocation of human resources … It is therefore imperative that the certificate of need be revisited," said the BHF, a key player for medical schemes in the country, in a report released on Friday. It is a controversial suggestion unlikely to sit well with doctors, who previously persuaded the Constitutional Court to set aside regulations requiring them to obtain a certificate of need, or ministerial approval, prior to practising. While the National Health Act contains provisions that enable the minister to regulate this arena, he has not done so since the Constitutional Court case.
However, the issue is very much still alive, as th...
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