A chronic shortage of specialists in state facilities – and the mounting difficulties of matching private sector salaries – has led to Pietermaritzburg’s Grey’s Hospital battling to recruit permanent cardiologists and limiting the number of procedures done each week, reports The Witness.
It has also led to a reliance on private cardiologists as global competition for these specialists increases. The shortage is particularly difficult for inland hospitals, where they are often harder to attract.
The KwaZulu-Natal Department of Health said it had tried unsuccessfully to recruit specialists locally and internationally to fill the permanent posts at Grey’s.
“We have undertaken extensive recruitment efforts both nationally and internationally, but been unable to attract full-time cardiologists… these specialists are highly sought after by the private sector,” the department said.
Hospital staff told The Witness only about three patients were seen and treated during weekly sessions by a private cardiologist.
Grey’s has been without permanent cardiologists for several years, confirmed the department, adding that the number of procedures being performed was “currently limited” but that a private cardiologist had been contracted on a part-time basis to perform weekly procedures.
Patients needing urgent or life-saving treatment are referred to Inkosi Albert Luthuli Central Hospital in Durban.
The department was “working to finalise arrangements with a new supplier to ensure the hospital continued to have the equipment needed for procedures”.
Hospital employees said the shortage had been “a real crisis in the cardiology unit for some time”, and that staff morale had suffered they watched patients wait for treatment.
A source claimed that more than 900 patients were waiting for heart bypass surgery at Inkosi Albert Luthuli Central Hospital.
Health Portfolio Committee chairperson Dr Imran Keeka said the limited number of procedures once a week was “far” from adequate. He was not aware of any shortage of coronary stents, he added, but any confirmed shortage would require urgent investigation.
Any investigation should also establish whether similar shortages existed at Inkosi Albert Luthuli Central Hospital, he told The Witness. He suggested public-private partnerships, fixed-term contracts for foreign cardiologists, and dedicated programmes using private specialists to help reduce waiting lists.
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