- Introduction
- Following the gazetting of the Health Services Amendment Bill [H.B. 8, 2021], the Portfolio Committee on Health and Child Care undertook public hearings in accordance with Section 141 (a) and (b) which states that, “Parliament must (a) Facilitate public involvement in its legislative and other processes and in the process of its committees; (b) Ensure that interested parties are consulted about bills being considered by Parliament, unless such consultation is inappropriate or impracticable.” The Committee split itself into two (2) teams and conducted the public hearing in each of the 10 provinces of the country. Thus, this report is a summary of the key findings by the Committee.
5.0 Recommendations
Flowing from the above findings and observations, the Committee recommends that:
5.1 Clause 3 should clearly stipulate the critical skills that those appointed to be the members of the Commission should have.
5.2 Given the overwhelming rejection of the Bill by the interested and affected stakeholders, the MoHCC should withdraw the Bill and conduct a thorough consultation process with all the interested and affected stakeholders in order to redraft the Bill.
6.0 Conclusion
The Committee is of the opinion that a good law must serve the interest of the people and it must be reasonable, it should not be too harsh or rigid. Thus, the Health Services Amendment Bill should be recrafted in such a way that it protects the health workers, boost their morale at work by creating good platforms for negotiations and cordial work relations between the employee and the employer as well as creating an enabling environment for quality health care services in the country.
THE HEALTH SERVICE AMENDMENT BILL IS AVAILABLE ON THIS WEBSITE HERE
ALSO AVAILABLE ON THIS WEBSITE HERE IS VERITAS COMMENTARY ON THE BILL
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