The Constitutional Court's judgment which found the Certificate of Need to be unconstitutional, is said to be a major victory for healthcare practitioners.
The Constitutional Court ruled on Monday that the “Certificate of Need” (CON) provisions in the Health Care Act - which controls where doctors work - are unconstitutional.
These provisions regulated that doctors first obtain a CON before they can work at a specific location. The CON scheme was declared unconstitutional by the Gauteng High Court, Pretoria earlier and was referred to the Constitutional Court for confirmation.
The application was brought by trade union Solidarity, the South African Private Practitioners Forum and several other applicants against the Minister of Health.
Solidarity meanwhile said it celebrates the Constitutional Court’s ruling and considers it a huge victory for healthcare practitioners and the broader public. The CON was one of the most important mechanisms by which the government wanted to exercise greater control over the health industry, it said.
