The Health Professions Council of SA (HPCSA) has responded to a raft of accusations levelled against it, including that it was implementing “unlawful” regulations with exorbitant fees being levied to registered practitioners.
The HPCSA has also responded to accusations it said was mainly raised in the media – that it ignored the recommendations from a report compiled by the ministerial task team, also known as the Mayosi Report, that concluded the HPCSA was dysfunctional and lacked an efficient organisational structure.
The HPCSA said allegations that it intentionally enforced regulations declared illegal by the Competition Commission was untrue.
“These regulations are lawful as they are promulgated by the minister in line with the Health Professions Act. It is therefore inaccurate for anyone to say that the HPCSA is issuing fines in contravention of the Competition Commission’s findings or any other law,” the HPCSA said.
In response to the MTT report, the HPCSA said it undertook a review process which concluded that the regulator was indeed in “a state of multi-system organisational dysfunction which was resulting in the failure of the organisation to deliver effectively and efficiently on its primary objects and functions in terms of the Health Professions Act 56 of 1974”.
In response, the HPCSA said it it instituted interventions under the leadership of council.
These included the decision to institute disciplinary and incapacity proceedings against the registrar/CEO, chief operations officer and general manager for legal services, and to appoint an interim executive management team.
Cape Times