The National Health Department has acknowledged growing concerns over the employment status of doctors who have completed their community service, with the South African Medical Association Trade Union (Samatu) highlighting a significant number of unemployed doctors. According to Samatu, 450 doctors remain jobless after completing their community service, a situation the union claims is worsening. This issue follows a longstanding pattern, where the department has failed to develop a sustainable plan to retain these doctors and integrate them into the public health system, despite repeated engagements by Samatu over the years.
Dr. Cedric Sihlangu, the General Secretary of Samatu, expressed the union’s frustration with the lack of concrete action from the National Department of Health (NDoH). “Samatu has documented a staggering 450 doctors who have completed their community service and remain unemployed. This number is still increasing,” Sihlangu said. He went on to emphasize that despite numerous conversations with the department and acknowledgments from successive Health Ministers about the severity of the issue, no comprehensive strategy has been put in place to address the unemployment of doctors in the public health sector.
The situation has escalated to the point where, by the middle of last year, approximately 800 doctors who had completed their community service were left without employment opportunities in the public sector. While the department has made considerable investments in these doctors’ education and trainingβspanning a two-year internship and one year of community serviceβSamatu argues that these efforts are undermined if the doctors are not retained to serve in underserved and rural areas where there is a dire need for healthcare professionals.
Sihlangu also pointed out the irony in this situation, noting that the department invests substantial resources to develop these doctors into practitioners capable of addressing critical healthcare gaps in remote communities. “It is perplexing that the department, having made such considerable investments, neglects to nurture and retain these invaluable assets within the healthcare system,” he said.
In light of this, Samatu has called on the Ministry of Health to urgently implement a strategy that would ensure these skilled doctors are employed, thereby reinforcing the country’s healthcare system. “The talents of these doctors should not be wasted,” Sihlangu stressed, advocating for the doctors’ expertise to be put to good use in strengthening healthcare delivery across the country.
In response, the National Health Department has indicated that it is aware of the problem and is working with provincial governments, in consultation with the Treasury, to devise a long-term solution. Foster Mohale, a spokesperson for the department, confirmed that plans are already in the advanced stages for recruiting more doctors, though specific details about the implementation timeline were not immediately available. “The department is aware of unemployed doctors who completed their internship and community service and is working with provinces in consultation with Treasury to find a lasting solution,” Mohale said.
While the department is still in the process of finalizing its plans, Mohale clarified that it is difficult to determine exactly how many of the 1,800 doctors who meet the requirements to practice independently remain unemployed. He explained that recruitment efforts are at varying stages across provinces, and some doctors may decide to further their careers by specializing, which could also contribute to the current employment figures. Once doctors complete their internship and community service, they are free to apply for open vacancies, both in the public and private sectors, nationwide.
However, Mohale acknowledged that, at present, there are no vacant funded posts for doctors within the public healthcare system. “Efforts are being made to repurpose some of the vacant funded posts in fields where there are sufficient positions to recruit doctors,” he said. The department’s focus, he emphasized, is on prioritizing employment for doctors in underserved health facilities, particularly in rural areas where medical professionals are most urgently needed.
While the Health Department has committed to addressing the unemployment of doctors, Samatu and other stakeholders continue to pressure the government to act swiftly. With the increasing number of unemployed medical professionals and the urgent need for skilled doctors in under-resourced areas, the health sector is calling for prompt action to ensure that the country’s investment in training these professionals does not go to waste. The next steps from the department will be crucial in determining whether these doctors will be absorbed into the healthcare system or left without opportunities to contribute to a system that is already stretched thin.