The perceptions of general practitioners on National Health Insurance in Chris Hani district, Eastern Cape, South Africa

Figures & data

Table 1: Profile of respondents

Identifier	Sex	Setting	Dispensing licence	Years in private practice
1. DN	Male	Urban	Yes	5
2. BN	Male	Urban	Yes	16
3. OS	Male	Rural	Yes	3
4. BL	Male	Rural	Yes	10
5. DM	Male	Rural	Yes	25
6. VG	Female	Rural	Yes	8
7. SJ	Male	Urban	Yes	21
8. DS	Male	Rural	Yes	30
9. CW	Male	Rural	Yes	6
10. LN	Male	Urban	Yes	16
11. CY	Female	Urban	Yes	18
12. MAO	Male	Urban	Yes	32

Table 2: Summary of key findings

Perceptions of NHI policy
Positive perceptions: Will improve health equity, universal coverage and benefit society Will be of particular benefit to poor and rural communities Will improve access to higher quality healthcare	Negative perceptions: May suffer from a lack of governmental administrative capacity, e.g. in accreditation and remuneration Needs to be informed by a national human resources policy
Views on implications for GP practice
Positive implications: Funding may enable more medical equipment and a more comprehensive primary care package Dealing with one purchaser and not multiple medical aids	Negative implications/concerns: Lack of information about the primary care package, accreditation of practices, registration of patients and capitation funding scheme May disadvantage solo GPs
Ideas on how to improve implementation
Engage more actively and positively with GP organisations Improve quality of government health facilities and staff attitudes Provide free continuing medical education to standardise competencies between public and private doctors