An audit tool for relicensing inspection for private hospitals in eThekwini district, South Africa

BACKGROUND: South Africa is moving towards National Health Insurance (NHI), which aims to provide access to universal health coverage for all South Africans. The NHI will only accredit and contract eligible health facilities that meet nationally approved quality standards in the public and private sector. Detailed tools for measuring compliance with the National Core Standards (NCS) and Batho Pele principles have been developed and implemented in the public sector. To date and since its implementation in the public sector, very little is known about the national audit tool and the method used to evaluate quality and patient safety standards in private hospitals in eThekwini district. OBJECTIVE: The aim of the study was to develop an audit tool for relicensing inspection of private hospitals in eThekwini district based on the clinical domains of the NCS and Batho Pele principles. METHODOLOGY: An exploratory sequential mixed method research design was used with a qualitative first phase involving 24 nurse managers through purposive sampling. This was followed by a quantitative phase in which a structured questionnaire was administered to 270 nurses who were randomly sampled for the study from 4 hospitals. RESULTS: The results revealed that the NCS and the Batho Pele principles are not fully implemented or evaluated in the selected hospitals in eThekwini district. CONCLUSION: These findings were significant and denoted the need for a standardised clinical audit tool for private hospitals in eThekwini district.