Friday, 29 March, 2024
HomeMedico-LegalAfriforum to legally challenge HPCSA delay of 12,000 registration certificates

Afriforum to legally challenge HPCSA delay of 12,000 registration certificates

AfriForum Youth plans to lodge a mandamus application to compel the Health Professions Council of South Africa (HPCSA) to process the applications of medical practitioners who have been waiting for more than three months for registration certificates and practitioner numbers.

Writing in PoliticsWeb, AfriForum Youth spokesman René van der Vyver says this comes after the civil rights organisation established, through a formal application under the Promotion of Access to Information Act (PAIA), that the HPCSA processes only 40% of applications for registration certificates, and only 60% of applications for practitioner numbers, within three months.

There are currently 11,682 registration certificates (out of a total of 71,914 since January 2018) that are still outstanding. This means 11,682 medical practitioners are unable to pursue their careers.

“In South Africa, where we often hear that access to medical care is a significant challenge, it is unacceptable that a national council’s administrative delay could lead to graduate medical practitioners not being allowed to practice,” she said.

In May this year, AfriForum Youth sent an attorney’s letter to the council on behalf of a graduate medical physicist demanding that her outstanding certificate be issued with the necessary registration number so she could start working as an independent practitioner. Thanks to this pressure, the student finally received her certificate on 2 June. However, it has become clear that the challenges medical practitioners experience with the HPCSA are far-reaching.

Medical practitioners who are faced with this challenge can approach AfriForum Youth for assistance by following this link below.

AfriForum Youth petition (Open access)

 

PoliticsWeb article – AfriForum Youth plans further legal action against the HPCSA (Open access)

 

See more from MedicalBrief archives:

 

HPCSA does U-turn on rejecting intern’s Afrikaans degree certificate

 

High Court expresses doubt that ‘nonchalant’ HPCSA is fit for purpose

 

HPCSA rapped over 7-year delay in accepting top Swiss surgeon’s qualifications

 

 

 

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