Western Cape Department: Health

Overview

The mission of the Western Cape Department of Health is to provide equitable access to quality health services in partnership with the relevant stakeholders within a balanced and well-managed health system to the people of the Western Cape and beyond.

Health Care 2030 provides a powerful vision for the future of health care in the province. The realisation of a people-centric, effective health system that inspires public trust depends on significant allocative and technical efficiency gains. The Department’s strategic goals are to address the burden of disease through promoting health and wellness; improve the quality of health services and the patient experience; embed good governance and values-driven leadership practices; develop and maintain a capacitated workforce to deliver the required health services; develop and maintain appropriate health technology, infrastructure and ICT; and optimal financial management to maximise health outcomes.

A transformation agenda has been set to give effect to the strategic vision of Health Care 2030. There are four pillars to this agenda, including service needs (with an identified set of priorities), leadership development, good governance and positive organisational culture. Fundamental to this agenda is the notion of person centredness, with the clear intention of placing people at the heart of the health system, evident in the Department’s commitment to a community-orientated primary health care (COPC) service; system resilience – the ability to withstand major health system disruption; comprehensive set of services, with a strong focus on health promotion and prevention, central to addressing the social determinants of health; and the notion of universal health coverage, which would enable a more equitable health system.