Cape Town - Nursing rights organisations are calling on the Provincial Health Department to fill their 5.87% vacancy as the population grows every year with births and the influx of foreign nationals.
They said according to the World Health Organization standards, nursing numbers should increase by eight percent annually in a bid to alleviate the workload.
The Western Cape Department of Health has since confirmed that there is also a 4.67% vacancy for doctors.
There are currently 3 273 doctors and 13 993 nurses employed within the Department, and all funded vacancies, especially clinical positions, are advertised and filled as a priority, they said.
But sadly, due to the Covid-19 pandemic, three doctors and 70 nursing staff have died, and in total, 83 lives in the profession have been lost.
But there is good news, with the provincial Department of Health and Wellness spending almost R1.2 billion this financial year on infrastructure.
This has been welcomed by the Democratic Nursing Organisation of South Africa (Denosa).
The Provincial Health said between the 2012/13 and 2021/22 financial years, the amount of public employed doctors and nurses in the Western Cape increased by 25.5% and 14.2%, respectively.
The Western Cape’s population increased by 624 616 people between 2016 and 2021.
DA Western Cape spokesperson for Health, Wendy Kaizer-Philander, said with the growing population and need for care, infrastructure had to increase: “In order for these doctors and nurses to be able to carry out their services, they require the facilities to do so, which is why the provincial Department of Health and Wellness will be spending almost R1.2 billion this financial year on infrastructure.
“This represents an increase of more than 8% in comparison to the previous year, which shows that the Western Cape is on track with its post-Covid recovery and is committed to providing quality healthcare to all residents.
“The Department is now focusing its attention on ensuring that our hospitals and facilities are further maintained and built upon.
“We see this in our allocations towards our existing infrastructure needs, whereby more than R631 million will be spent in this regard.
“This year’s budget will see an increase of 99.28% in upgrades and addition, as well as refurbishments and rehabilitations, increasing by more than half.
“At the same time, in order to accommodate the Western Cape’s population growth, spending on new infrastructure assets will be 110% bigger than it was in 2021.
“We are well aware of the immense pressure under which the healthcare sector operates. On a daily basis, health care professionals work long and difficult hours to provide quality services to residents.”
Sibongiseni Delihlazo of Denosa agreed and called on the vacancies to be replenished as the population grows: “I think, as Denosa, we really note the Western Cape for their intention to increase and expand in the province.
“But our key interest as Denosa is the production of nurses in the province.
“We wish that the province can take care of the production of nurses and sufficient numbers thereof so that there is enough to deal with the workload, considering the growth in the population and the disease burden and the increase in foreign nationals.
“The recommendation of the World Health Organization (WHO) says that countries must ensure that their level of production of nurses each year is increased each year by eight percent to ensure that we avoid catastrophe, in terms of nursing shortages, by the year 2030.”
Provincial health department spokesperson Mark Van Der Heever said they were constantly filling positions.
“There are currently 3273 doctors and 13 993 nurses employed within the Department. All funded vacancies, especially clinical positions, are advertised and filled as a priority.
“We currently have a vacancy rate of 4,63% in doctors and 5,87% in nursing. Vacancies are filled on a continuous basis (block adverts and recruitment throughout the year) in response to the service demands to ensure services continue uninterrupted. It is not always just about appointing more human resources as there are other factors which also contribute towards service delivery, such as theatre time, scarce skills, etc.
“The Department remains committed to ensuring quality health care is provided at all levels of care, be in at primary level or tertiary health services.
In addition, the Department annually sets aside a budget to improve infrastructure and health technology to ensure our staff is equipped and able to provide world-class health services.”