The DA in Mpumalanga has written to the Chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on Health, Pat Ngomane, requesting that the committee oversee the progress towards the electronic filing system in health facilities. We also request that funds already spent on the system be investigated and quantified.
According to the Mpumalanga Department of Health’s third quarter report for the current financial year, they have begun with the electronic filing system phase of the rollout and scanning at the following hospitals: Witbank, Rob Ferreira, Ermelo, Mapuleneng, and Temba. According to the report, R223 904 025 has already been spent rolling out the system in the above five hospitals; this is roughly R44.7 million per hospital.
Hospitals in Mpumalanga are in dire need of an electronic filing system, but at R44.7 million per hospital, we feel this could be a little exorbitant and suspicious, taking into account that Mpumalanga has 31 hospitals.
The DA has thus requested the Chairperson (Pat Ngomane) to allow the portfolio committee on Health to visit the five hospitals that are currently using the electronic filing system to access how it is assisting the healthcare facilities as well as the patients; and if the amount spent for the system is worth every penny.
This project could be yet another venture that will take multiple years and will never be implemented in all hospitals just like the electronic queuing system which is currently being investigated by the SIU. We demand that the millions spent in each hospital to roll out the system be investigated, audited and quantified.