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Enough! say junior docs
23/10/2006 23:41 - (SA)
Leon-Ben Lamprecht, Beeld
Cape Town - Junior doctors nationwide say: "So far and no further."
They are sick of being exploited and treated like slaves.
Some junior doctors work up to 180 hours overtime a month, many of them without being paid for it, while others have to cope without supervision, equipment and medicines.
The Junior Doctors' Association of South Africa (Judasa) gave notice to the department of health in a statement on Monday that its members would not work excessive overtime without pay.
Judasa chairperson Dr Duan Lemmer said in a statement: "We are bound to the good health of the people of South Africa, but we want to see an end to the continual exploitation of interns, junior doctors and medical officials.
Many doctors work more than the contractual 80 hours' overtime a month, but without being paid for it.
Lemmer told Die Burger the exception was the Eastern Cape, where doctors were accommodated.
Begin to make mistakes
He said that in extreme cases interns were sometimes expected to work between 180 and 190 hours' overtime a month.
"This (the overtime) is a risk for the patient. Doctors become dulled and begin to make mistakes.
"We are not unwilling to work, but if you work more than the 80 hours' overtime, you don't get paid for it (the extra work)."
The SA Medical Association (Sama) has supported Judasa in its stand.
They have told all heads of department in all the provinces that junior doctors will stick to their contractual overtime obligations and that any further overtime will be done of their own free will and they must be paid for it.
Professor Denise White, deputy chair of Sama, said doctors felt like victims.
"It is totally unacceptable. I am angry that our junior doctors are so exploited."
According to Lemmer, the problem has been around for a long time.
"But, it has got worse in the past year. The problem should be addressed now as an emergency measure."
He singled out two main problems: a shortage of medical personnel and the working conditions of junior doctors.
A doctor at Johannesburg Hospital, who asked to remain anonymous for fear of victimisation, said that in July and August he had to work between 160 and 180 hours' overtime.
Judasa deputy chair Dr David van den Bergh, who is doing his community service year at Khayelitsha Site B, described the whole medical system as "a sinking ship".
He said the excessive overtime that some doctors had to work was one of the reasons they were leaving South Africa.
"The guys get suicidal and depressed.
The Democratic Alliance has backed Judasa's stand.
"For many years, the government has made a joke of their own labour laws by relying on doctors working many hours of unpaid overtime.
Must accommodate their demands
"If the minister of health really wants to show her willingness to solve the health crisis, she must accept the legitimacy of the doctors' complaints and make provision in her budget for their demands."
The department of health said in a statement that their policy was that doctors could work a maximum of 80 hours' overtime and that they must be paid for this.
"We are committed to working with Judasa to establish whether their claims are true and to take corrective action should it be necessary."
- Beeld
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