The R81.5 million budget allocation for the Cuba-South Africa Student Doctor Programme has come under fire in the Gauteng legislature, with DA spokesperson for health Jack Bloom saying the money could be better spent on training doctors locally.
He was reacting to Gauteng MEC for Finance Barbara Creecy’s provincial midterm budget, in which an additional R284.3m was allocated to the ailing health department, which has become synonymous with the Life Esidimeni tragedy.
The health budget allocation, according to Creecy, included R182.2m for improvement in conditions of service, R81.5m for the Cuba-SA Student Doctor Programme, R20.6m for the payment of agencies collecting patient fee revenue from the Road Accident Fund and a further R120m for lease payments and the acquisition of machinery, furniture and equipment for the new office building where the department relocated following the fire at the Bank of Lisbon building.
The official opposition was not impressed with the allocations.
“The R81.5m that is allocated for the Cuban doctors’ programme would be better spent on local training of doctors, but many doctors graduate and can’t find positions in public hospitals. The department consistently under-spends on maintenance and building, although many hospitals desperately need rehabilitation. Extra money is needed, but it needs to be spent efficiently and effectively,” said Bloom.
The Cuban doctors’ programme was started in 1996 and thousands of medical students have since graduated through it. In May, Martin Veller, chairperson of the SA Committee of Medical Deans, said 720 students would return from the programme this year and 800-plus students next year.
Creecy urged the department to develop and implement a proper human resource plan that dealt with management of the compensation budget and ensured staff were appointed to critical posts. “One of the major risks to the sustainability of the provincial health system comes from budget over-runs in the five academic hospitals. A major contributor here is the steady reduction in conditional grants to fund these hospitals from the national fiscus.”
Meanwhile, the department’s acting chief financial officer, Jonas Shai, said a strategy was in place to monitor budget use. Internal control was complemented by oversight by the provincial treasury and the health portfolio committee, among others.