Netcare has again warned that the healthcare system's heavy reliance on a nursing workforce mostly older than 50, and with few new nurses being brought into the profession, was becoming a societal challenge that needed to be addressed urgently.
Chair Mark Bower, in a letter to shareholders published in Netcare’s annual report on Monday, said the worsening shortage of qualified nurses in SA should be a concern at all levels of society, not only for healthcare service providers, reports BusinessLIVE.
He said that between 2012 and 2022, the rate of population growth in SA significantly outstripped the number of enrolled nurses and midwives registered with the SA Nursing Council (SANC), and that reductions in approved student numbers in private and public sectors, coupled with shifting regulatory requirements, was contributing to the shortage.
“In addition to the current shortfall, our healthcare system relies on a large percentage of highly qualified nurses over 50. Without enough new nurses entering the pipeline, we are heading towards a dangerous cliff in nursing provision. This requires far more urgent attention at the highest levels of government,” he said.
The problem is not an isolated one.
Worldwide, governments are “failing to invest in measures to retain nurses, and the shortage should be considered a global health emergency”, said Howard Catton, CEO of the International Council of Nurses (ICN), who recently told the Geneva UN press association (ACANU) that there appeared to be more emphasis on recruitment rather than retention of these essential workers.
“The US has lost 100 000 nurses since 2020 and is predicted to lose up to 600 000 by 2027,” he told ACANU. “The number of nurses leaving the UK register is also up since 2020. And in Switzerland, the dropout rates of new nursing students in their first year and second year is between 18% and 36%.”
Yet, he added, even though there was growing evidence of nurses leaving or planning to leave the sector, “governments are not prioritising investment in the nursing workforce”, reports Health Policy Watch.
“Improved working conditions and support and investment for the current nursing workforce need to be a priority to keep those nurses we still have.”
He said international recruitment by various wealthy countries was decimating the healthcare in less affluent countries, with a small number of high-income countries driving 70% to 80% of recruitment activity, “overwhelmingly from countries in a weaker position than themselves”.
“Recently, the UK said it had reached a target to recruit 50 000 more nurses earlier than planned. But it turns out 93% of those were internationally recruited – and 6 000 of them came from the most vulnerable countries, the red list countries the World Health Organisation (WHO) advises not to recruit from.”
In 2023, the WHO identified 55 countries – 37 from Africa – with “low workforce density” that might require “safeguards against active international recruitment” of their health workforce.
“The focus of government action, where we do see it, appears more on recruitment than retention,” he added.
“Recruitment… is important in the medium to long term. But the … incontrovertible truth is that improved working conditions and support and investment for the current nursing workforce need to be priorities to retain those nurses we have.”
See more from MedicalBrief archives:
Massive UK nursing shortage sucks in Kenyan, South African and Zimbabwean nurses
Australia's nurses leaving in droves
Germany eyes SA-trained nurses – with government’s blessing
Private sector frustration as nursing staff flock to greener pastures