Doctors do not need to panic about being forced to work in places where they do not want to, according to the [b]Department of Health[/b]. [s]Health-e[/s] reports that this follows an outcry last week after it emerged that President Jacob Zuma had signed into law a proclamation that makes it compulsory for all health establishments to get a ‘certificate of need’ within the next two years in order to operate. The intention of such certificates is to encourage doctors to only open practices in underserved places such as rural areas and townships. But Health Department spokesperson Joe Maila has assured doctors that ‘nothing is going to be unilateral’ adding that it would be ‘unconstitutional’ for government to force doctors to work in places where they did not want to. The [b]South African Medical Association[/b], which represents doctors in the private and public sectors, has raised ‘serious concerns’ about the certificate of need, which will become compulsory in April 2016.
The opposition [b]Democratic Alliance[/b] is to petition the president to reconsider the rigid sections 36 to 40 of the [b]National Health Act of 2003[/b] that give the state more control over where medical practitioners set up their practices. The DA’s Wilmot James writes in [s]Politicsweb[/s] that ‘while the making of healthcare accessible to all- especially poor South Africans is a principle to which we wholeheartedly subscribe, the regulatory burden imposed by this Act will paralyse services and hamper delivery of care. The reality is this provision is largely ill-conceived and misdiagnoses the problem of access to health care for South Africans.’
[link url=http://www.health-e.org.za/2014/06/04/doctors-need-panic-certificates-need]Full Health-e report[/link]
[link url=http://www.politicsweb.co.za/politicsweb/view/politicsweb/en/page72308?oid=632094&sn=Marketingweb+detail&pid=90389&utm_source=Politicsweb+Daily+Headlines&utm_campaign=21155c4dd3-DHN_May_9_2014&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_a86f25db99-21155c4dd3-130040921]Full Politicsweb comment[/link]