The National Department of Health says it is working with provinces to address the issue of post-community service on behalf of unemployed doctors.
This comes after the SA Medical Association Trade Union (Samatu) revealed that data from a recent survey indicated that more than 800 qualified doctors remain unemployed following the completion of their two years of medical internship and one year of community service.
Samatu general secretary Cedric Sihlangu said despite the department overseeing a rigorous three-year practicum for medical graduates, there was a lack of strategy to keep these skilled doctors on board, post-training.
“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,” said Sihlangu.
He said this contributed to the continuous emigration of qualified doctors from the country.
Speaking on a television news channel on Friday, Sihlangu said it was strange that a government intending to implement the National Health Insurance (NHI) was failing to absorb and appoint the critical staff who would be vital in giving the health services that were so desperately needed.
“You can’t on the one hand be pushing aggressively for a system that will require hands on deck and then in the very same breath say, look, we don’t actually have money to hire the people who will make the system work,” he said.
Health department spokesperson Foster Mohale said the department had been made aware of a number of unemployed, post-community service doctors.
As a result, he said, they were communicating with organisations representing doctors as well as with those doctors who had approached them directly.
“The department is working with the provinces to address this problem,” Mohale said.
The department also acknowledged that a percentage of certain categories of health professions, including environmental health practitioners, radiotherapists and physiotherapists, could not be placed for community service due to a shortage of funded posts in various provinces.
“We are working with provincial departments of health to unlock funding to reach 100% allocation for eligible applicants who remain unallocated,” said Mohale.
He noted that the issue of environmental health practitioners was receiving special attention because it involved a number of stakeholders, including local government and the Department of Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs, to ensure that no one was left behind because of their important role in enforcing compliance with food safety laws and regulations.
“The department is in constant communication with all affected applicants, including the 27 community service doctors who were initially allocated to the Northern Cape but later re-allocated to alternative choices, to keep them abreast of developments,” Mohale said.
In addition, the department said it had an obligation to place all eligible applicants who met the requirements in terms of the regulations and community service policy to perform statutory responsibility as medical interns and community service personnel.
“A total number of 2 101 eligible community service personnel and 2 210 medical interns have been placed at various facilities across the country as of Tuesday, January 2, 2024,” Mohale said.
He said 220 applicants for community service doctors were not eligible to commence duty in January 2024 due to starting their internships late and they would be allocated posts only later in the year.
Mohale said 53 eligible community service doctors did not commence their duties because they had rejected posts for a number of reasons, including geographic location, and they had since lodged appeals.
“The department is currently attending to all appeals, and the outcomes will be communicated to each appellant in due course.
“The impact of service delivery on the vacated post will be considered as a determining factor during the appeals review process,” he said.
The Mercury