Practitioners employed in the public sector whose annual HPCSA registration fees are paid over by their employer, are advised to check their HPCSA statements to verify if deductions were done on PERSAL (Payroll System for Public Service). In this article we explain the PERSAL deduction process, how to check your account statement and, what to do with duplicate or over payments.
PERSAL is a payroll system used by the South African government to manage the payments of public service employees, including healthcare professionals. PERSAL is used to process the payments for HPCSA annual fees for qualifying public service employees.
The HPCSA has entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with all the Provincial Health Departments. In order for the HPCSA to receive the final list of deductions made for the annual fees, the Provincial Department of Health issues a list of all its practitioners. The HPCSA provides a report to the Provincial Health Department to deduct the amounts due and payable from the PERSAL system.
Should there be duplicate payments of annual fees, it will reflect as a credit on the practitioner’s account. Practitioners who prefer to receive a refund can make a request for a refund. Please note that refunds may take up to 6-months due to the verification process required.
Practitioners are reminded to check with their respective Provincial Departments of Health if a PERSAL deduction was made. This is to eliminate any duplicate payments to HPCSA. PERSAL deductions are not new and have been done for a few years now.
The process takes a few months to finalise and for a practitioner’s account to reflect the PERSAL deduction. The HPCSA will not be suspending any practitioner without prior notification. HPCSA sends annual fee reminders via SMS or letters to notify practitioners whose membership is at risk of being suspended. Suspensions will only take place after the Provincial Health Department PERSAL payments have been allocated and inaction from the practitioner following HPCSA notifications.
PERSAL deduction process
HPCSA has put in place the following process for PERSAL deductions:
- HPCSA receives data from the Provincial Health Department including names of practitioners, ID number and PERSAL number.
- Data received in (1) above, is verified with data on HPCSA’s system (using ID number provided).
- Invoices are issued for each practitioner indicating the balance owed to Council at that point in time.
- The respective Provincial Health Departments are issued with the required documentation to deduct amounts due to be paid to the HPCSA from PERSAL system.
- Provincial Health Department in turn supplies a PERSAL file of actual deductions to Treasury who issue a bulk payment on into the HPCSA bank account.
- The Provincial Health Department also issues the HPCSA with a breakdown of the bulk payment that us then updated to each individual practitioner account.
Above process can take a few months to finalise and for a practitioner account to reflect the PERSAL deduction. The HPCSA will not be suspending any practitioner without prior notification. HPCSA sends annual fee reminder letters and SMS notification to practitioners at risk of being suspended.
Suspensions will take place once Provincial Health Department PERSAL payments have been allocated to the practitioner’s accounts.
Refunds
In the event of over or duplication of payment of HPCSA registration fees, the following options are available:
- The overpayment will be kept as a credit on the practitioner account to be used toward the registration fees for the following year OR
- Practitioners can request a refund from the HPCSA in the event of overpayment or duplication of payment by their employer. Click here for guidance on requesting a refund.
- Please note that it may take up to 6 months to process due to volume of work involved.
Help
Practitioners with questions regarding their HPCSA status can consult the self-service portal and click here for instructions on accessing the self-help function.
Last Updated on 10 May 2024 by HPCSA Corporate Affairs