Young doctors who have completed their studies make excuses not to work in rural areas where they are placed, and find themselves unemployed because they are “too picky”, the government says, adding that most prefer to work in urban area.
Placing the doctors for community service had become “complicated”, according to the Department of Health, because none like working in poorer and rural communities, leaving many areas without vital public health services.
Medical graduates are required to undertake compulsory two-year community service as part of their training before they can take up positions in private or public institutions of their choosing, reports The Citizen.
However, the processes have become a headache for many, some of whom had studied abroad and find themselves without community placements or unemployed after two years of community service, as previously reported in MedicalBrief.
Doctors belonging to the Cosatu-affiliated the SA Medical Association Trade Union (Somatu) took to the streets in four provinces last week, demanding employment. Their memorandum of demands was received by Health Minister Joe Phaahla in Pretoria.
“The march is to raise the plight of more than a thousand unemployed doctors in the country… we all know the South African healthcare system has plunged into a crisis so we can’t then have doctors sitting at home when we know we have a very strained doctor to patient ratio,” said Samatu’s general secretary Dr Cedric Sihlangu
“This is not only about the unemployed doctors, but also about the failing health system that needs their expertise ”
Chairperson and spokesperson for the SA Medical Association (Sama) Dr Mvuyisi Mzukwa said his organisation had complained for years about the shortage of nurses and doctors, but these concerns had fallen on deaf ears.
One doctor oversees at least 3 000 patients in public hospitals, while the health budget keeps decreasing, he added.
“The annual budget decreases by 1% annually. The public is being told NHI is not ready, but that is because it needs qualified people giving good quality service, however, that is not what they (politicians) are doing.
“Eastern Cape and Limpopo state orthopaedic services have closed down because of no equipment. I know many colleagues who leave the public sector because no equipment means you cannot treat patients. So, they go overseas where they are equipped for their jobs properly, and paid well, because this country produces the best medical doctors.
“It’s a mess, the public health system is on its knees.”
‘People are choosy’
However, Foster Mohale, Health Department spokesperson, said unemployed doctors were just too fussy about where they were placed.
“We have openings in deep rural areas for community service, where there’s not even a cellphone network, but they tell us they can’t work far from home and have all sorts of excuses – mother is sick or other reasons.”
The government insists that after their community service, doctors need to find employment for themselves as their contract with the state ends. Mohale added that the state has an obligation to ensure doctors are adequately trained.
“Community service is government’s obligation, otherwise we will end up having doctors who are not exposed to the environment or who are not adequately equipped for work.
“Doctors are like pilots, they need further training after qualification, we can’t let them take up jobs without on-the-job training. They have to be ready to see patients. But our job ends after the two-year service. Then they have to apply like everyone else.”
‘No HSPCSA registration’
Mohale said when Samatu indicated that it already had a list of jobless people who had completed community service, the department discovered that many on the list did not have Health Professions Council of South Africa (HPCSA) registration numbers, as required, while some had no identity numbers.
“We asked them to go back and clean up that list, especially regarding HPCSA registration,” he said.
‘More than 1 000 doctors unemployed’
However, Sihlangu said the list of unemployed doctors keeps increasing as more are forced to sit at home.
“More than 1 000 qualified doctors don’t have jobs. You have a doctor in whom government has invested, idling at home when the public is desperate for health services,” he said.
He said the problem was that politicians presided over a public health system “that they don’t use”.
“Ministers or directors have medical aid and use private services. In fact, when they have a headache, they are sent to a specialist – a neurologist is ready for them. They see a cardiologist for chest pains yet most of our people are confined to public facilities with no doctors, which is untenable.”
Department of Health deputy director-general for hospital services Dr Percy Mahlathi said: “What we are concerned about is the challenges that we all face regarding the public health services, and our attempt is to improve, not only the quality but also the extent of access to the health services.”
He acknowledged that the department was aware of the crisis, but was only aware of 200 unemployed doctors, not the 1 000 mentioned by the union, reports IOL.
See more from MedicalBrief archives:
Substantial number of community service doctors still unemployed — SAMA
Not our job to place young doctors, says Health Department
Post-community service doctors struggle to find jobs
Young doctors face uncertainty over placement in state hospitals