|
Mpuma needs 9 000 doctors
22/01/2008 15:55 - (SA)
Sydney Masinga
Nelspruit - Private doctors in Mpumalanga have agreed to help out at public hospitals where there is a critical shortage of doctors.
There are less than 700 public doctors in Mpumalanga, whereas the province needs an additional 8 897 doctors.
Recently, medical manager at Standerton Hospital, Dr Calvin Mogajane, said exhausted state doctors were only willing to work from 07:30 to 17:00 in the week and not on weekends.
"All medical officers have worked their 80 hours overtime for January and, due to exhaustion and fatigue, are unable to work more overtime," said Mogajane.
On Tuesday, Mpumalanga MEC for health and social development, William Lubisi, said the province would soon be getting 18 doctors from Tunisia, who would be deployed to areas with the greatest need.
'A policy issue'
He confirmed that private doctors had also agreed to work with the department, if they were paid more than what is currently offered.
"We will work something out with them, but we must also keep in mind that rates is a policy issue that is controlled by the national Department of Health," said Lubisi.
Lubisi said doctors were leaving the province, not because of their salary packages, but because of the high cost of accommodation in the province and the unavailability of a university where they can further their studies.
He said another reason for the shortage of doctors was that interns are now doing their internship for two years, delaying their appointment as community service doctors.
"This means that medical doctors who started their internship last year will only be available to do community service next year, meaning that we don't have new community service doctors for 2008," Lubisi said.
Head of the Health Department, Dr Confidence Moloko, said the department had 144 community service doctors last year, but only 50 this year because some had joined private practice, returned to medical school to specialise or had been given senior positions in other provinces.
Recruitment strategy
Co-ordinator of the Treatment Action Campaign (TAC) in Mpumalanga, Bheki Khoza, said TAC would urge the department to create a human resource plan to address the shortage of doctors.
"We will do so at meetings of the Mpumalanga Aids Council, which is the platform where we engage with the department on issues of HIV and Aids," he said.
Spokesperson for the Democratic Alliance Jaco Londt said the department needed to adapt its recruitment strategy.
"We also believe that the CEOs of hospitals should be given the power to recruit and appoint their own staff, thereby decentralising and shortening the exhaustive process of appointing personnel by head office in Nelspruit," he said.
|
News
