TY - JOUR AU - Ngobeni, Victor AU - Breitenbach, Marthinus C. AU - Aye, Goodness C. PY - 2020 DA - 2020/01/28 TI - Technical efficiency of provincial public healthcare in South Africa JO - Cost Effectiveness and Resource Allocation SP - 3 VL - 18 IS - 1 AB - Forty-nine million people or 83 per cent of the entire population of 59 million rely on the public healthcare system in South Africa. Coupled with a shortage of medical professionals, high migration, inequality and unemployment; healthcare provision is under extreme pressure. Due to negligence by the health professionals, provincial health departments had medical-legal claims estimated at R80 billion in 2017/18. In the same period, provincial health spending accounted for 33 per cent of total provincial expenditure of R570.3 billion or 6 per cent of South Africa’s Gross Domestic Product. Despite this, healthcare outcomes are poor and provinces are inefficient in the use of the allocated funds. This warrants a scientific investigation into the technical efficiency of the public health system. SN - 1478-7547 UR - https://doi.org/10.1186/s12962-020-0199-y DO - 10.1186/s12962-020-0199-y ID - Ngobeni2020 ER -