Health Department's Multi-Pronged Health Staffing Strategy
Press release, Dr Manto Tshabalala-Msimang, Minist
2002-10-31
There have been reports on the number of unfilled posts and other related staffing matters within the public health sector. Health workers and professionals are the most critical resource in the delivery of health care. Their movement between rural and urban areas, public and the private health sector and across our borders is bound to impact on service delivery.
Positive efforts such as the increase in access to health care on the one hand and the complex nature of the burden of diseases in the country on the other, are some of the factors that have put strain on human resources.
We believe that if there is a major - and insidious - threat to our overall health effort, it is the continued outward migration of key health professionals, particularly professional nurses, with a consequent de-skilling of the professional base in both the public and private sector.
The government is making efforts to mobilise resources to address these challenges within the context of competing social needs. The Department of Health in particular has taken several measures to ensure that sufficient personnel is recruited and retained to enable us to provide quality health care within the public sector and particularly in underserved and rural areas.
We are extending community service to cover all health professions and many of the community service professionals are deployed in historically disadvantaged areas. The programme covering doctors, dentists and pharmacists is already meeting its objectives.
Starting from next year, we will be phasing in radiographers, speech and hearing therapists, occupational therapists, environmental health officers, dieticians, psychologists and physiotherapists ending with the professional nurses by 2007. This should make available a pool of thousands of health professionals who can assist in providing health services mainly in historically underserved or disadvantaged areas.
The 254 students we sent to study medicine in Cuba are completing their studies and the first group has already returned to South Africa. These young people will serve in the public sector for the equal number of years they have spent studying. They are students from historically disadvantaged communities who will get a wonderful opportunity to come back and serve their communities as doctors.
Together with the MECs for Health, we have resolved to visit all provinces to get first hand experience of the functioning of the provincial and local health system all over the country. Where there are problems, we work together to ensure that they are addressed.
The visit to the Eastern Cape, for instance, identified challenges relating to human resources, particularly staffing levels in some institutions. A massive recruitment effort has been undertaken and career progression of staff is being unblocked. A team of officials have been mobilised from the national and other provincial departments to assist the Eastern Cape in this endeavour.
Together with the Health MECs, I have directed the Department of Health to work with the private sector, nursing organizations, trade unions and other relevant bodies to conclude a clear framework for attracting and retaining nurses. There are a number of incentives including the improvement of working and living conditions for our health professionals in the rural areas that are being investigated and a set of proposals is to be tabled for consideration by the MECs and myself shortly.
Since migration of health professionals is an international problem facing many of the developing countries, we have also sought global solution to this challenge. At the World Summit on Sustainable Development, we spoke strongly against the recruitment of our health professionals to the developed countries.
We have also developed a Code of Conduct for Recruitment of Health Professionals for the Commonwealth of Nations. This initiative should at least address the challenge of movement of personnel amongst Commonwealth member states.
None of us underestimated the challenges we would face in transforming the health system. These challenges are a reminder of the task that remains before us. They require our collective efforts as government, private sector, health workers or professionals and the civil society.
A commitment to improve the health of fellow South Africans should be our source of inspiration in addressing these challenges.(Source: Dr Manto Tshabalala-Msimang Minister of Health, Department of Health, Press release,23 0ctober 2002)
There have been reports on the number of unfilled posts and other related staffing matters within the public health sector. Health workers and professionals are the most critical resource in the delivery of health care. Their movement between rural and urban areas, public and the private health sector and across our borders is bound to impact on service delivery.
Positive efforts such as the increase in access to health care on the one hand and the complex nature of the burden of diseases in the country on the other, are some of the factors that have put strain on human resources.
We believe that if there is a major - and insidious - threat to our overall health effort, it is the continued outward migration of key health professionals, particularly professional nurses, with a consequent de-skilling of the professional base in both the public and private sector.
The government is making efforts to mobilise resources to address these challenges within the context of competing social needs. The Department of Health in particular has taken several measures to ensure that sufficient personnel is recruited and retained to enable us to provide quality health care within the public sector and particularly in underserved and rural areas.
We are extending community service to cover all health professions and many of the ommunity service professionals are deployed in historically disadvantaged areas. The programme covering doctors, dentists and pharmacists is already meeting its objectives.
Starting from next year, we will be phasing in radiographers, speech and hearing therapists, occupational therapists, environmental health officers, dieticians, psychologists and physiotherapists ending with the professional nurses by 2007. This should make available a pool of thousands of health professionals who can assist in providing health services mainly in
historically underserved or disadvantaged areas.
The 254 students we sent to study medicine in Cuba are completing their studies and the first group has already returned to South Africa. These young people will serve in the public sector for the equal number of years they have spent studying. They are students from historically disadvantaged communities who will get a wonderful opportunity to come back and serve
their communities as doctors.
Together with the MECs for Health, we have resolved to visit all provinces to get first hand experience of the functioning of the provincial and local health system all over the country. Where there are problems, we work together to ensure that they are addressed.
The visit to the Eastern Cape, for instance, identified challenges relating to human resources, particularly staffing levels in some institutions. A massive recruitment effort has been undertaken and career progression of staff is being unblocked. A team of officials have been mobilised from the national and other provincial departments to assist the Eastern Cape in this
endeavour.
Together with the Health MECs, I have directed the Department of Health to work with the private sector, nursing organizations, trade unions and other relevant bodies to conclude a clear framework for attracting and retaining
nurses. There are a number of incentives including the improvement of working and living conditions for our health professionals in the rural areas that are being investigated and a set of proposals is to be tabled for consideration by the MECs and myself shortly.
Since migration of health professionals is an international problem facing many of the developing countries, we have also sought global solution to this challenge. At the World Summit on Sustainable Development, we spoke strongly against the recruitment of our health professionals to the developed countries.
We have also developed a Code of Conduct for Recruitment of Health Professionals for the Commonwealth of Nations. This initiative should at least address the challenge of movement of personnel amongst Commonwealth member states.
None of us underestimated the challenges we would face in transforming the health system. These challenges are a reminder of the task that remains before us. They require our collective efforts as government, private sector, health workers or professionals and the civil society.
A commitment to improve the health of fellow South Africans should be our source of inspiration in addressing these challenges.(Press release, Department of Health, 23 0ctober 2002)
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