Doctors 'treated like slaves'

2003-08-01 09:24

Willemien Brümer

Cape Town - "Making a living as a doctor in South Africa is like balancing on a knife edge."

This is what Dr Mark Sonderup, chairperson of the SA Association of Clinical Assistants, believes. Sonderup was voicing concerns about the circumstances under which especially young doctors have to work.

He supported the claim of the SA Medical Association's chairperson, Doctor Kgosi Letlape, who said earlier that the government was using young doctors as "slave labour".

"The government announced that young doctors have to complete a second internship year, along with their one-year community service. During this time, they will not receive a substantial salary increase.

"Following the community service, many doctors working for the state do not have promotion opportunities, because essential posts are frozen left, right and centre. The state doesn't give young doctors any option but to leave the country."

Dr Darren Green, a member of the executive committee of Judasa, the body which represents young South African doctors, says they are bearing the brunt of the aids pandemic.

"In some of the hospitals where doctors are doing hospital or community sevice, essential equipment is not available to protect us against the blood of HIV-positive patients. Some hospitals don't even have protective shields for our eyes when we perform operations.

Green says many hospitals also do not have protocols in place in the case of accidental needle pricks.

"Access to anti-retroviral medicines in case of this scenario is poor, especially in remote areas. It's a very emotional experience for many young doctors and there's no system for debriefing if something like that occurs."

Green says another problem is that young doctors often do not receive overtime pay.

- Die Burger