sahr2001 - Health Systems Trust

17 • Health and Related Indicators
African
Coloured
Indian/Asian
White
All groups
Number of Psychologists
2001 Public sector 2 69 17 27 146 259
Number of Radiographers
2001 Public sector 2 884 427 160 590 2 061
1. Note: Enrolled nurses includes pupils.
Ref: PERSAL (Extracted 2000-12-14)
2. Note: Enrolled nurses includes pupils.
Ref: PERSAL (Extracted 2001-11-30)
3. Note: Note that this total includes 153 727 vacant posts across the various professions. Total for South Africa is the total of all the provincial figures, and does not
include 476 posts within the National Department of Health (of which 379 are vacant).
Ref: PERSAL (Extracted 2001-11-30)
4. Note: Community Service Professional (CSP) Posts are allocated against existing (vacant) posts, therefore these health professionals form part of the figure reported by
PERSAL for the relevant profession. The national figure also includes CSPs allocated to SA Military Health Services (SAMHS) and the Department of Correctional
Services (DCS) and is therefore greater than the sum of provincial figures.
Ref: DOH Annual Report 2000/2001
Health Financing
Data from the National Health Accounts (NHA) and the Intergovernmental
Fiscal Review provide insight into the degree of efficiency of the health system.
Data from the NHA are presented using ‘Full’ public health expenditure
where ‘Full’ is defined as direct expenditure by the provincial and national
Departments of Health (Narrow) plus by Departments of Works and Local
Authorities (which is then defined as Core) plus expenditure by other national
departments and institutions e.g. Defence, Road Accident Fund. The Narrow
expenditure may be 25% smaller than the Full definition.
The section also provides various indications of the degree to which South
Africans are covered by medical aids. There is uncertainty as to whether the
sharp declines in medical scheme coverage recorded in the October Household
Survey are accurate or reflect sample errors. This is important to clarify,
given its potentially large influence on the equitable share formula and
evaluation of equity issues [Fiscal Review 2001, pg 42].
In this regard, and also in respect of the allocation of the private sector ‘spend’
to various line items, the reports of the Medical Schemes Council are
increasingly useful. An attempt has been made to allow some tentative
comparisons of economic efficiency between the sectors. The indicators of
interest are those that show the percentage of recurrent expenditure used for
personnel, medicine and hospitals. Careful attention needs to be paid to the
exact definitions used in each case. These are provided as notes to each line
of data.
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