Private healthcare decries gov’t bureaucratic sabotage
Spira Tlhankane | Monday July 14, 2025 09:49
The private healthcare providers complain that they continue to face various licencing roadblocks and bottlenecks that hinder their ability to operate efficiently and provide timely care.
They say this threatens the viability of private clinics, pharmacies, and specialist practices across the country.
Equally, the healthcare providers pointed out that these challenges include lengthy and complex application processes, redundant verification requirements, and inconsistencies from the health ministry.
They also indicated that there is red tape, internal roadblocks, and organisational obstacles leading to delays in decision-making.
“The licencing process for healthcare providers, including obtaining medical licences and credentialing, can be time-consuming and often involves redundant verification of information across multiple entities.
“These roadblocks in the licencing process can delay a provider's ability to begin seeing patients, leading to longer wait times for appointments and potentially impacting patient outcomes,” one disgruntled private healthcare provider told Mmegi.
The provider added that outdated systems and lack of standardisation can create opportunities for credentialing fraud and make it more difficult for providers to ensure compliance with regulations.
“Government should implement measures to streamline licencing processes, such as setting maximum processing times, standardising requirements, and exploring the use of technology to expedite application reviews,” added the provider.
Some of the private practitioners argue that enabling more patients to access and afford private care will de-congest public hospitals and clinics, where resource constraints and rigid bureaucracies hamper efficiency.
“In economic terms, competition amongst private providers drives down prices, fosters innovation in service delivery, and enhances overall system productivity. Public institutions, by contrast, often suffer from monopoly inefficiencies where the absence of competitive pressure leads to bloated administration, underutilised capacity, and delayed decision-making. Those who can afford private healthcare should be encouraged to use it,” one industry observer told this publication.
The observer argued that every patient diverted to the private sector frees up government resources for those most in need.
When contacted for comment, the Ministry of Health spokesperson, Dr Christopher Nyanga said they are not aware of such complaints.
“As already indicated, there is no paralysis in our licencing regime. Any qualifying applicant is assessed on the basis of the existing guidelines and facilitated accordingly.
“There is absolutely no hindrance to all qualifying health care providers who follow the procedure as per the guidelines of the application process,” he said in a brief response.
Although the government says there is no paralysis in their licencing regime, to address staffing shortages and process bottlenecks, private providers propose the introduction of a licencing fee and an expedition surcharge.
This is because the Ministry’s licencing committee convenes only once every two months, leading to months of delays.
Private healthcare providers stated that revenue generated from their licensing fees and expedition surcharges could fund additional committee sessions or hire contract administrators tasked solely with processing applications.
“Licencing fee is a modest, one-time payment to cover administrative costs and discourage frivolous submissions. Expedition Surcharge is an optional, higher-tier processing for applicants willing to pay for guaranteed turnaround within 30 days,” argued one service provider.
“Such measures would align incentives: applicants who value speed help underwrite the system’s capacity, while fee waivers or reductions could be offered to young graduates or small-scale practitioners.”
As Botswana pursues a resilient and inclusive health system, private practitioners maintain that meaningful reform cannot wait.
They also feel that President Duma Boko should step in and help remove the roadblocks, empower local professionals and let competition drive down costs and improve care for all Batswana.