The Salta Ministry of Health Isn’t Aware of How Much Money It Sent To a Hospital for Medicinal Drugs
<p style="line-height: 20.7999992370605px;"><span style="line-height: 1.6em;">A report by the Province’s Audit found that the Ministry incurred expenses without complying with the provisions of the General Accounting Office, and also in some areas of the hospital, located in the town of El Tala, there are weaknesses in internal control, such as lack of purchase orders and records on the entry of goods and supplies.</span></p> <div> </div>
According to a report by the Auditor General of Salta (AGPSA, for its acronym in Spanish), the provincial Ministry of Health has no records to determine how much money was spent on drugs delivered to Santa Teresa Hospital in the village of Tala. Also, the report states that the Ministry does not have records of the Consumed Goods accounts in the health centers, and there were "budget items that were made without complying with the provisions of the General Accounting Office."
Also, "weaknesses" are mentioned in the internal control system of Santa Teresa, which "could lead to different types of irregularities materializing at the expense of the Hospital," and noted that there are areas where missing records of stock, orders purchase, and signatures to support the documentation of incoming goods.
The AGPSA said "it could not determine the total amount" of the costs incurred for the supply of medicine, provided by the Ministry of Health in Salta, because "they do not have the relevant records."
Such deficiencies caused, among other things, that the stock sector did not meet proper control over goods shipped by the Ministry -medicine and dry supplies-, since "the Ministry’s proof of purchase lack sequential numbering and date of issue".
Even the watchdog warned that within the Ministry "no documents are written to support the entry of goods" because, there also aren’t signatures of agents responsible for the payroll to control stock.
Similarly, the audit, which had among its objectives to assess the Consumer Goods category, failed to perform the required procedures to validate these movements because "the Administration Directorate of the Ministry of Health does not have analytical records of accounts."
Moreover, it is added that the Management of the Hospital Administration "does not have an integrated accounting and budgetary registration system. No purchase orders to support the operations performed are issued, payment orders are not pre-numbered, and there are no register of the records on location."
The report explains that in the pharmacy area "adequate records that enable the permanent inventory of medicines and other supplies that the Sector manages are not provided."
In this sense, the auditors stated that "there is an appropriate division of functions related to the receipt, storage, delivery, registration, and control of Medicinal Products (Pharmacy)." In addition, the person in charge of the area does not have any "legal instrument of appointment to perform their duties."
Beyond what happens in the pharmacy, the watchdog said that the Hospital Santa Teresa does not have manuals that establish the objectives, roles, and responsibilities of each level or OU.
Finally, the report approved this year on 2005 data, adds that the health center also did not develop "indicators to assess the effectiveness, efficiency, and economy, on the fulfillment of the objectives of their health care management and administrative and financial."