Hon. Speaker the Free State Government has despite our success stories been criticized about our Health services. A culture of overlooking the improvements and successes of the Department of Health seems to be the order of the day. Hon. Members, grant me the opportunity to congratulate MEC Benny Malakoane for the improvements in the department.
The Department of Health has demonstrated sound financial management to address the challenges they experienced in the financial year 2013/2014. The total accruals have been reduced from R1.1 billion at the beginning of the 2014/2015 financial year and is projected to be at R200 million by year end. Of this, the overtime accruals have been reduced from R280 million to R28 million.
This clearly demonstrates that the Free State Department of Health is in fact nowhere near “the verge of collapse” as MEC Malakoane pointed out during the Budget Vote Speech on the 24th March 2015. Under Human Resources, I would also like to take this opportunity to congratulate the department on their Managerial skills and Job creation. The Free State department of Health has demonstrated that it is also committed to do more with less as advised by our MEC Rockman.
Hon. Members, through an internal budget reprioritization process R100 million is now available for funding of medicine, medical consumables and food for hospitals. 28 Pharmacy assistants were appointed and funding has been secured for an additional 111 critical medical posts.
Yes, Hon. Speaker, it is important to outline not only the challenges of each department, but on continuous bases, communicate the success of each department. I look forward to see the improvements and success stories of the Free State Department of Health.