He said that when the national Department of Health conducted an assessment of 33 hospitals and 278 primary health care facilities in the province, all facilities were found to be non-compliant with the national core standards and the six priority areas.

“This is an area of work that will receive special attention to ensure that we speed up institutional readiness for the NHI implementation in the province,” Mabuza said.

He stressed that provincial care facilities were expected to comply with the agreed core quality standards and six priority areas of performance if they were to be accredited to deliver health services within the NHI.

The national core standards include patients’ rights, patients’ safety, clinical support services, public health, leadership and governance, operational management, as well as facilities and infrastructure.

Mabuza highlighted the need to invest in the upgrading of infrastructure of health facilities, improving the quality of service as well as leadership and governance of provincial health facilities.

In response to these challenges, Mabuza reported that all districts and institutions have developed Quality Improvement Plans to address the shortcomings that exist and the monthly reports that are being monitored by the Quality Assurance team.

“All health facilities in the province are implementing Quality Improvement Plans in line with the six priorities of core standards.

“In 2012/2013 financial year, the province will prioritise interventions to improve the overall health system effectiveness…part of this process will entail the revitalisation of the health care system through primary health care re-engineering,” he said.