Nurse Zee - Telehealth Implementation Researcher.

Inequalities in our country are not just high, they are violently disproportionate! South Africa has over 60 million people, yet only around 9 million people access private healthcare; while over 50 million rely on the public healthcare system. Almost half of the country’s healthcare spending serves that smaller private sector population.

A minority accesses a greater share of specialists, infrastructure, technology and healthcare workers, while the majority depend on an already overburdened public system. These are not just statistics to me, they are lived realities. This is why to me the conversation of NHI matters, not because NHI will magically fix healthcare overnight and yes concerns around corruption, governance and implementation are valid.

But I sometimes wonder ukuba when everyone depends on the same healthcare system, does accountability start to change? Because right now many people making decisions about the public healthcare system often have the option of private healthcare when the public system fails. But what happens when we are all in the same boat? Would we protect the system differently? Would we demand better leadership? Would we tolerate dysfunction the same way?

At its core the NHI conversation is not just about politics, it’s about whether quality healthcare should depend on what people can afford.

Healthcare workers, I’m curious about your reality on the ground. In a high volume public facility in South Africa, it’s not unusual to see 40 to 50 patients a day, often with limited staff and time.

Now imagine this; Out of those 50 patients, about 15 have stable conditions or minor alignments that could be managed through an online consultation neh. Tell me, if the right systems were in place; would you be open to managing a portion of your patients through an online system, while keeping physical consultations for those who truly need to be seen in person?

Or do you feel that all patients should still come into the facility, regardless? I’m not asking from a theory point of view bethuna, I’m asking from your everyday experience in your facility.

Masincokoleni, and no I am not collecting data for my PhD.😂