Home PodcastJulie Alli Crisis looming as shortage of doctors becomes worse

Crisis looming as shortage of doctors becomes worse

by Salaamedia Intern
Too many patients, too few doctors to treat them Photo Pexels

South Africa – There is currently a major shortage of doctors in South Africa with less than one doctor to treat 1000 patients. The country has access to three doctors per 10 000 people. A stat far below the current average around the world.

According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), countries need to have one doctor per 1000 people. If stats are to be trusted, South Africa has just 0,31 per 1000 doctors, said Dr. Angelique Coetzee of the South African Medical Association (SAMA). The stats might even be lower.

“The problem is, an organisation like SAMA or any of the other doctor groups, can make noise but the ship has already sailed. It will be extremely difficult to turn this Titanic around. The World Health Organisation wants one per 1000 in the next few years. The average around the world is about three per 1000. So we are very far behind due to various reasons.”

 

The problems plaguing doctors and the medical field

Doctors and nurses are being overworked while skilled professionals are leaving the South African medical field in search of better pay and better hours. Another problem is the influx of student doctors is well below the required number, expressed Coetzee.

“If you look at the [influx] of medical students, it’s around about 1 300. It has been stagnant like that for many many years. We currently need about 3 000 medical interns per year. Then again, one of the pushing factors is the lack of accountability, the corruption, the lack of confidence in the government and the financial ability of the government to ensure services are being delivered. Doctors are quite aware of that.”

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Tackling the issues and providing solutions 

With so many issues in the medical sector, it is no wonder so many doctors are deciding to leave for greener pastures. This does not help the current situation. Many of those who leave are highly skilled and are specialists. The only solution is for provincial health departments to tackle the problems their hospitals face head on, stressed Coetzee.

“Government needs to become more credible. We need to look at the provinces because a lot of these problems are lying on the level of provinces and not so much with the National Department of Health. There must be a willingness from provincial Departments of Health to tackle this problem and to open up these posts. Then accountability because if you don’t keep these politicians accountable, you can clearly see that it escalates down to chaos.”

Another problem is the training medical interns are getting. It is not up to standards with those in the private sector. Coetzee predicts in the next five to ten years South Africa’s private sector could be facing the same problems as the public sector.

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Foreign trained and local doctors not getting placement

In 2019 South Africa was sitting on 0,79 doctors per 1 000. That has fallen drastically over the years. One would think there are no posts available, but this is not the case.

“We still have around 20 000 specialist medical personnel posts available across the nine provinces. If you don’t even want to fill those posts, how do you want these doctors to stay in the country? … If you’ve got an HR problem, there are studies done, there are recommendations that have been [suggested] and nothing happens.”

There are many local doctors who are currently waiting for a post. Another issue is foreign trained doctors. When they return, they are met with a medical board exam which many are told they cannot write. Those who are allowed to write face long waiting times and even after passing it, are not guaranteed a post at local hospitals. This has been an ongoing problem and foreign doctors are now challenging the Health Professions Council of South Africa  to change the regulations and have them be allowed to practise in the country.

With the vast number of posts available and doctors sitting on the side lines, the National Department of Health needs to open up these posts and allow foreign trained doctors to practice in the country more easily. Besides this, provincial departments have to tackle the problems their hospitals have head on if a crisis is to be averted.

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