Experts tackle SA's healthcare challenges at Investec conference

The recent inaugural HealthBeat conference, hosted by Investec, brought together healthcare experts from SA’s private and public sectors, NGOs and industry associations.

The platform was created to enable the exchange of ideas that generate solutions to the challenges facing the sector and to attract investment.

SA’s healthcare sector is a major cog in the economy, but faces complex challenges that individuals or groups within the system cannot solve alone. 

In a country where only 15.8% of the population — roughly 9-million people — are medical aid members and can access private healthcare, the majority of citizens depend on a public healthcare system that is beset with challenges, including poor governance and management as well as a shortage of skills.

While the National Health Insurance (NHI) Bill, now before the president, aims to broaden access to quality healthcare for all South Africans, questions remain regarding its effectiveness, constitutionality, and how to fund it.

Other pertinent issues relate to the role technological advancements can play in improving care and treatment as well as creating more equitable access to healthcare services.

Richard Wainwright, executive director of Investec Bank, says the recent conference has its roots in previous engagements with industry leaders aimed at understanding the challenges facing the sector.

“While we do not have all the answers to the challenges, we understand that you can start to move the dial through dialogue, which is a belief embedded in the Investec ethos and culture,” says Wainwright. 

As a business that provides comprehensive and tailored financial solutions within the healthcare sector across its private and corporate banking divisions, Investec has played a crucial role in supporting the growth and development of the healthcare system in SA, while creating enduring worth for its industry clients and the broader sector.

Investec is entrenched within the industry value chain, supporting professionals in the public and private healthcare systems, including doctors and nurses, medical company owners, medical aids and private hospitals.

“Investec banks just under 21,000 medical professionals, 45% of whom work in the private sector and 55% in the public sector,” says Investec SA CEO  Cumesh Moodliar.

“However, our role extends more broadly than just financing businesses and supporting professionals with banking and wealth management services,” says Moodliar.

“We also understand we have a role to play within the public sector, which is why some of our sponsorships focus on medical education for doctors working in the public healthcare system, helping them earn continuing professional development points.”

Investec is appropriately placed to offer and facilitate conversations to guide decisions on investment, policy, regulation and legislation to transform the healthcare sector and its models of care.

“In addition to solving some of the more immediate issues, the conference was aimed at bringing together the right people to deepen relationships and foster greater trust among stakeholders and to promote further constructive engagement, despite differences in views and opinions,” says Wainwright.

According to Letlotlo Lenake, equity analyst for healthcare & pharmaceuticals at Investec, “WHO studies have found a close relationship between poverty and health, highlighting the importance of investing in health to promote development and reduce poverty,”

The healthcare economics panel, which included the Council for Medical Schemes and other industry players, unpacked how to find the right balance between operational survival and financial stability to support the sector's role in the economy.

“With universal healthcare coverage as the backdrop, the panel addressed numerous issues, focusing on access to funding and funding models, healthcare financing policy and reforms, budgeting and spending,” says Lenake.

Discussions relating to the regulatory and legislative landscape and the potential for policy uncertainty to stifle growth — with insights from the SA Medical Association and the SA Pharmacy Council — highlighted the vital role regulatory agencies play in setting, implementing and maintaining policies that support growth.

“Panellists also addressed the healthcare workforce crisis in SA, offering potential solutions to alleviate the pressures on healthcare workers, particularly those in the public sector,” says Lenake.

The conference also hosted a panel dedicated to the NHI Bill and its potential impact on industry groups. An expert panel debated whether the bill in its current form could truly revolutionise the way we finance and deliver healthcare.

 “The NHI represents significant healthcare reform in SA that aims to address the existing disparities between the public and private healthcare sectors and provide healthcare for all, but it faces many implementation challenges,” says Lenake. 

The panel discussed issues related to the bill's ability to address resource shortages and the sustainability of the proposed funding model while highlighting its potential to contribute to overall socioeconomic development and unlock not-so-obvious opportunities.

“Discussions focused on how the Covid-19 pandemic transformed patient care and how SA can integrate new models to strengthen its response to future crises and meet the demands of primary healthcare to provide accessible, affordable and comprehensive care to all citizens,” says Lenake.

“The role of technology also emerged as a key talking point and rightly so, as technological advancements are poised to define the future of healthcare, especially as we look at transformative models and reimagine healthcare delivery.” 

Panellists outlined the potential impact that technology-led innovation can deliver with the right investment focus, particularly when it comes to expanding healthcare access through mobile and tele-health and addressing resource constraints in the public sector.

“Faced with very real challenges in the sector that affect everyone in society, it is critical to find solutions that create a brighter future for South Africans, particularly for medical professions. This conference has helped take us a step closer to realising these ambitions,” says Lenake.

This article was sponsored by Investec.