Green light for 5 300 health jobs
Minister announces plan to employ wide range of medical professionals across SA
THE government is poised to hire more than 5 000 health workers, including doctors and nurses, to ease the crisis in public health facilities.
Health Minister Aaron Motsoaledi yesterday confirmed the plan to fill 5 300 posts that will breathe life into the burdened sector.
Motsoaledi was speaking after a two-day meeting with the National Health Council and he announced the posts as part of President Cyril Ramaphosa’s stimulus package.
“The health work force has been diminishing for the past three years because of economic problems. Provinces were not filling the posts – not even for those vacated – because health budgets were slashed,” he said.
Motsoaledi said the government would employ extra healthcare workers across the country, including nurses, doctors, pharmacy assistants, general staff, porters and mortuary attendants. The appointment of new staff was in line with the recommendations of the presidential health summit held at the end of October.
“Under-staffing, especially in the provinces, has been cited as a major contributing factor that has negatively affected the provision of healthcare.
“The appointment of the health workers, which includes a broad spectrum of professionals – registrars, pharmacists, pharmacy assistants, radiographers, specialists, psychologists, physiotherapists and allied professions – will go a long way towards improving the quality of public health care in facilities in all the provinces,” Motsoaledi said.
The KwaZulu-Natal Health Department, which has been battling with several issues including staffing shortages, will be able to fill 782 posts, including 97 registrars (medical specialists in training) and 150 enrolled nurses. The rest involves nursing and pharmacy assistants, porters, general assistants and artisans.
The ailing North West Health Department is to get the most, with 2 000 new posts, filling 50% of their vacancies.
Ramaphosa placed the North West Health Department under administration in May and appointed a team, under the leadership of Minister in the Presidency Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma.
Motsoaledi said: “One of the reasons we put them under Section 100 is because their shortage was huge. That 2 000 is sort of filling 50% of their vacancies. They were definitely struggling.
“We are giving them 50% of their vacancies now and we will see how to fill the other 50% later. The shortage of staff in that province was much more acute than in all of the other provinces.”
He said that Ramaphosa’s stimulus package reflected the government’s acknowledgement of weaknesses and a willingness to deal with them.
Over the past three years, the Health Department has lost R9billion due to budget cuts, which led provinces to not appointing new practitioners or filling vacant posts, said Motsoaledi.
He said that the move would be helpful for rural health facilities and it would bring a welcome break for the overworked staff at urban hospitals.
The posts will be available in January and interested professionals should contact their provincial Health Department.
“For some of the positions, people have been interviewed, but the posts have not been filled. What we are doing there is announcing the go-ahead to appoint.”