Budget curbs stop doctors getting jobs

South Africa, which struggles with a shortage of medical personnel at state-owned hospitals, hasn’t hired more than 800 qualified doctors in public-health posts because of a shortage of funds, a medical union said.

“Annually, the department cites budget constraints as a barrier to hiring qualified medical doctors, yet no substantial measures are evident to solve the funding dilemma,” the South African Medical Association Trade Union, known as Samatu, said last week. “This contributes immensely to the web of factors that prompt the continuous emigration of qualified doctors.”

Doctors wanting to work in the country have to register with the Health Professions Council of South Africa, whether they qualified within the nation’s borders or at universities outside, said Jeanette Hunter, the acting director-general of the department of health.

“Provinces are continually putting out adverts for doctors,” she said, highlighting eight vacancies advertised in the Free State two weeks ago. “We want to employ all qualified and registered doctors.”

Unemployed professionals should come forward with their registration numbers so that the department can arrange jobs for them, Hunter said.

The South African Medical Association, which is separate from Samatu, on Friday also highlighted the lack of public-sector posts for newly qualified doctors. “There’s a huge shortage around the country,” said Akhtar Hussain, the chair of the employed doctors advocacy forum at the SA Medical Association. “They end up going to the private sector” or they leave the country, he said on SAFM Radio.

At the end of last year, the department of health had 2 451 posts available for internships and only 2 358 applicants, Hunter said. Still, there isn’t a clear strategy for keeping doctors in public service after the training, Samatu said. Poor working conditions are the most common reason doctors leave the public sector.