Public hospitals built but lack doctors to serve

South Africa has built more health care facilities over the years but with no doctors to serve communities, it is time to direct the funds to the employment of doctors.

This is the view of Cedric Sihlangu, general secretary for the South African Medical Association Trade Union (Samatu).

Mpumalanga doctors on Friday protested at the premier’s office to hand over a memorandum of grievances, demanding the urgent employment of doctors.

Mpumalanga doctors protested

Samatu warned recently their members would protest throughout the country to compel the government to employ doctors.

Protests were held in the Eastern Cape and in Mpumalanga.

Sihlangu said the country had built a substantial network of public health care facilities to serve the population’s needs.

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“These include clinics, hospitals and specialised care centres that stand ready to provide health care services.

“However, the challenge lies not in the availability of structures, but in the staffing of these facilities with qualified doctors.

“Many of the existing health care facilities operate under severe staffing constraints and that becomes the reason why you would have a patient sitting at a hospital from 5am, only to be helped at 10 am.

Health care facilities operate under severe staffing constraints

“This is not because there is no hospital for the patient to go to, but because there is no doctor available to see the patient as soon as one would require,” said Sihlangu.

“The World Health Organisation recommends a ratio of approximately 2.3 doctors per 1 000 patients, yet in South Africa, you get a ratio of approximately 0.9 doctors per 1 000 patients. This indicates a challenge in meeting the health care needs of the population in terms of the staffing in public facilities.”

Sihlangu said one significant consideration was the substantial amount of money allocated to medical litigation, which had been increasing annually.

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Government seemed not to understand that the budget for medical litigation and claims increased because patients were being attended to by doctors who were overtired due to the workload ending up making mistakes.

If a portion of the budget could be directed to employing doctors, there would be minimal medical litigation and claims, he said.

The mismanagement of funds also contributes to situations where various departments do not have enough funds.

Mismanagement of funds

“The provision of quality health care is non-negotiable; it is a basic human right and the government should prioritise it,” Sihlangu said.

“The problem of qualified doctors who have to sit at home due to being unemployed, and the understaffing of various public hospitals is not new. It is an issue that has been ongoing and growing for some time.”

There have been many calls for the department of health and the government to strategise to absorb qualified doctors into the public health care system, but there has not been a satisfactory response, Sihlangu said.

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Department of health spokesperson Foster Mohale did not respond to questions sent to him.

However, a week ago, Health Minister Aaron Motsoaledi came under fire for saying doctors were not special, therefore they must not expect preferential treatment as the country was experiencing a higher unemployment rate.

DA member of parliament Michele Clarke accused Motsoaledi of ignoring the plight of thousands of unemployed doctors and pharmacists, who have taken to the streets to voice their frustrations.

DA accuses Motsoaledi of ignoring plight of unemployed doctors and pharmacists

“In fact, his rather callous response about budget constraints belies the hundreds of millions the minister has spent on his vanity project.

“The DA will submit parliamentary questions to determine how many posts have been filled since last year, as well as the current vacancy rates of medical professions in the public health sector.”