Patient lost in the private healthcare mix – Broomberg.

was: 'I don't understand all the objections – I mean [Netcare] Park Lane Clinic [in Parktown, Johannesburg] has more gynaes than Limpopo and Mpumalanga provinces put together! It will be difficult to force them to move – but should we allow more gynaes to move into that small space called Park Lane? I don't think so!' Motsoso promised: 'I'm going to translate the primary law through secondary regulation, ' adding that reading the CoN provisions in isolation from the rest of the NHA 'leads to misinterpretation'. She said 'some brilliant ideas' had come from the biggest objectors, including establishing objective criteria for 'grandfather clauses' (to protect established practices) and using a weighting system for different disease conditions, with dentists offering to develop a 'toolbox' of packaged services, while GPs suggested she use some of their existing independent practitioner association guidelines. 'It's very exciting – if we do this right, we can come up with a do-able model,' she said. The NDoH would use the registration data from the Health Professions Council of South Africa and other statutory councils to facilitate the granting of CoNs. A major advantage of the CoN would be its use as a tool to ensure that norms and standards set by the Office for Healthcare Standards Compliance (OHSC) regarding public sector equipment and staff distribution were adhered to. The OHSC had completed setting norms and standards for all public sector primary healthcare facilities, but was still busy working out staff distribution norms for tertiary health facilities, with a 'major rationalisation process' due. (It has yet to begin on the private sector – yet another administrative hurdle.) Matsoso said the CoN would also help the NDoH remove a long-standing thorn in its side by giving Pretoria the power to direct how provinces allocate their health budgets instead of being beholden to maverick, often hugely ineffective, provincial political allocation. One source said that the NDoH was considering reallocating part of the R9 billion annual health infrastructure budget (given the healthcare staffing crisis) and using it 'more productively' to fund public/private partnerships, thereby increasing access to healthcare. Responding to the lack of initial consultation, Matsoso replied: 'I cannot think of a single government department that says to stakeholders, " before we even start, can we talk about what the issues are? ". ' She described portions of the NHA as 'bizarre and badly written' , saying it required constant …