Primary Health Care Nurses' opinions on National Health Insurance implementation in Soweto Health facilities

Abstract

Introduction and background: South Africa has two types of health systems. One system constitutes a majority of people from the public sector that is benefiting less than the minority from the private sector. To bridge the gap of inequality, the South African Government has embarked on implementing the National Health Insurance (NHI) scheme. The NHI is a planned system aiming to ensure that every South African has access to quality health care. Limited research is available regarding the Primary Health Care (PHC) nurses’ opinions on NHI implementation in Soweto health facilities. Purpose: the researcher sought to explore and describe the PHC nurses’ opinions on NHI implementation in Soweto health facilities. Research design and method: The researcher used snowball non-probability sampling method and collected data through telephonic unstructured in-depth individual interviews and data were analysed using the four steps of Giorgi data analysis method. The target population for this study comprised of Primary Health Care nurses working in the Soweto health facilities implicated in the implementation of the NHI. For the sake of the study, the researcher required only twenty (20) Primary Health Care nurses out of a pool of 219 Primary Health Care nurses who work at the Community Health Centres (CHCs) in Soweto health facilities. Data collection: The researcher conducted telephonic unstructured in-depth individual interviews using an audio tape and field notes. Data analysis: The researcher used the verbatim transcription of recordings and the coding scheme to code the data. Conclusion and recommendations: The study found that according to the PHC nurses in Soweto facilities, there were more disadvantages than the advantages of the NHI implementation. The disadvantages included lack of resources, poor infrastructure, lack of support and poor communication. The participants recommended prolonged piloting of the NHI to allow the government time to resolve challenges encountered by the health facilities.