ArticleThe Southern African journal of critical care : the official journal of the Critical Care Society2025
Emergency care capacity of private primary healthcare facilities in Gauteng, South Africa.
Article in The Southern African journal of critical care : the official journal of the Critical Care Society, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
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Abstract
Background: Strengthening emergency care at the primary healthcare (PHC) level has been identified as a strategy for improving the emergency care system, which should include the private sector as well. As the National Health Insurance Act will soon come into effect, more non-medical aid users are expected to access private healthcare facilities. There is a great need for further assessment of the emergency care capacity at private primary healthcare facilities. Objectives: To use a standardised facility-based assessment tool to assess if private PHC facilities in Gauteng have the capacity to deliver emergency care services using the Hospital Emergency Unit Assessment Tool (HEAT). Methods: The HEAT - a standardised tool - was used for quantitative description of the critical functions and structure of an emergency unit (EU) at any facility level of PHC facilities in a private healthcare group. Results: More than half (n/N=10/19) of the facilities participated in the study. Facilities demonstrated adequate equipment, resources and staffing for basic emergency care despite a lack of specific skills and specialised protocols. Conclusion: All private primary healthcare facilities met the listed infrastructure and essential equipment requirements for emergency care, including a resuscitation area; however, none of the facilities had an area specifically for triage. Common barriers to performing emergency care procedures across most facilities were due to a lack of training in emergency protocols and procedures. Contribution of the study: This study assessed the emergency care capacity of private primary healthcare facilities in Gauteng, South Africa, finding that while facilities had adequate infrastructure and equipment for basic emergency care, they lacked specialised triage areas and staff training in emergency protocols, highlighting gaps that need addressing as more patients are expected to access private healthcare under the National Health Insurance Act.
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