NATIONAL ASSEMBLY
FOR WRITTEN REPLY
QUESTION NO. 1286
DATE OF PUBLICATION IN INTERNAL QUESTION PAPER: 18 SEPTEMBER 2009
(INTERNAL QUESTION PAPER NO. 17)
Mr M H Hoosen (ID) to ask the Minister of Health:
What (a) is the total number of vacant positions for (i) doctors and (ii)
nurses in his department in each province and (b) steps are being taken to
address these shortages?
NW1633E
REPLY:
The following information was obtained from the Provinces:
EASTERN CAPE
(a) (i) Doctors = 1 217
(ii) Nurses = 25 954
(b) The Occupational Specific Dispensation has been introduced in order
to attract and retain scarce skills. The vacant funded posts are
being advertised and in the process of being filled.
FREE STATE
a) Total number of vacant positions
(i) Doctors/registrars = 368
(ii) Nurses = 1466
b) The Department has established a team that revises, and when approved,
implements the Service Transformation Plan. This will also link to the
re-designing of the staff establishment, addressing shortages and
service delivery. The Department is also part of the project of HR
Connect of the DPSA, which will lead to the cleaning up of the staff
establishment and PERSAL.
LIMPOPO
a) Total number of vacant positions
|POSITIONS |VACANT |
|Doctors |1815 |
|Nurses |3829 |
b) Steps being taken to address these shortages
⢠The Department has established two additional colleges of
nursing for the training of professional nurses in the province
⢠The implementation of the Occupational Specific Dispensation for
nursing personnel from July 2007 is also a means to recruit and
retain nursing personnel
⢠The Department is awarding bursaries for studies in medicine as
a recruitment measure. The students awarded bursaries sign a
contract to serve the department for at least the number of
years of the duration of studies
⢠The Department is also employing foreign Cuban, Iranian and
Tunisian doctors in terms of the Government to Government
Contract
⢠There is also a United Nations Volunteer Programme through which
the Department is also able to acquire doctors
⢠The Department also send students for training as doctors in
Cuba who after completion come back to serve the province
MPUMALANGA
The following table reflects the situation in this regard
| |Doctors |Nurses |
|(a) Vacant positions | Medical Doctors: 696 |Nursing Assistants: 1366 |
| |Medical Specialists: 93 |Staff Nurses: 1229 |
| | |Professional Nurses: 1542 |
| |Total: 789 |Total: 4137 |
|(b) Steps taken to |As Mpumalanga is a rural |As Mpumalanga is a rural |
|address these shortages|province, it is difficult |province, it is difficult |
| |to attract health |to attract health |
| |professionals to the |professionals to the |
| |province. The |province. The |
| |implementation of the OSD |implementation of the OSD |
| |for the medical cluster |for nursing staff is |
| |should attract medical |however slowly starting to|
| |doctors and specialists to |attract nurses to the |
| |work in the province as the|province, especially rural|
| |salaries will be |areas as the rural |
| |substantially higher. The |allowance is now |
| |provision of a career path |calculated on the higher |
| |in the OSD will also assist|salaries offered by the |
| |in attracting medical |OSD. |
| |doctors and specialists | |
| |(Translation to higher | |
| |grade is no longer | |
| |dependent on availability | |
| |of posts) | |
NORTHERN CAPE
The following table reflects the situation in this regard
|Categor| |No. of Posts |No. of Posts Filled|No. of Posts |
|y | | | |Vacant |
|Medical Officer (perm) |600 |232 |368 |
|Medical Officer (temp) |47 |51 |-4 |
|Professional Nurses |1856 |1207 |649 |
|(perm) | | | |
|Professional Nurses |4 |4 |0 |
|(temp) | | | |
WESTERN CAPE
(a) (i) Doctors: 158 vacant funded posts (total include Specialists and
Medical Officers)
(ii) Nurses: 465 vacant funded posts (include all nursing
categories)
(b) The Occupational Specific Dispensation has been introduced in order
to attract and retain scarce skills. The vacant funded posts are
being advertised and in the process of being filled.
END.