The health department in Pretoria is the national Department of Health. Its most useful published number is not the switchboard: the National Health Hotline is free, runs 24 hours a day in five languages, and also takes WhatsApp. Hospitals and clinics, though, are run by provincial departments, not by this office.
Official contact channels
- National Health Hotline, free, 24 hours, five languages: 0800 029 999
- Health hotline WhatsApp: 0600 123 456
- Health hotline email: [email protected]
- AIDS Helpline: 0800 012 322
- Mental Health Information Line: 0800 567 567
- Children’s Cancer Helpline: 0800 333 555
- Anti-corruption hotline: 0800 701 701
- Head office switchboard: 012 395 8000, or [email protected]
Services and responsibilities
The national department sets health policy and runs national programmes rather than treating patients. Its published programme areas include health infrastructure and facilities management, health regulations and compliance, food control, immunisation, HIV, tuberculosis, and maternal and child health, and it publishes outbreak information on cholera, listeriosis, measles, mpox, malaria, rabies and others. It also publishes the Uniform Patient Fee Schedule, which is the national schedule determining what a patient pays at a public hospital according to income, and is worth reading before you are billed rather than after.
Office and address information
The head office is the Dr AB Xuma Building, 1112 Voortrekker Road, Pretoria Townlands 351-JR, Pretoria, 0187, with post to Private Bag X828, Pretoria, 0001. The Office of the Director-General is on 012 395 9150, with [email protected] used for appointments, and the Office of the Deputy Minister is on 012 395 9206. The Minister keeps two offices, which catches people out: Pretoria on 012 395 8086 and Cape Town on 021 466 7260, both reached at [email protected], because the executive sits in Cape Town when Parliament is in session.
Applications and escalation
Public hospitals and clinics are run by provincial health departments, so treatment, waiting times, staff conduct at a facility, patient records and hospital accounts are provincial matters and not for the national switchboard. Complain to the facility manager first and get a reference. If that fails, the Office of Health Standards Compliance and its Health Ombud is the statutory body for complaints about the standard of care in a health establishment, and it is the correct escalation rather than the national department itself. Misconduct by a doctor, nurse or other registered practitioner goes to the Health Professions Council of South Africa, or to the South African Nursing Council for nurses. A medical scheme dispute goes to the Council for Medical Schemes, and maladministration by a department goes to the Public Protector.
Sources
- National Department of Health contact page with head office, ministerial offices, hotlines and helplines: health.gov.za/contact-us/
- National Department of Health programme and outbreak sections: health.gov.za