Many of the professional bodies and private healthcare providers blame the Department of Health’s freeze on training funding and on the number of positions available for registrars for the shortfall.
One of these bodies is the South African Society of Anaesthesiologists (SASA).
“This is a real concern for the country’s health sector – and a very real issue that the national Department of Health does not seem to be focusing on. Instead of growing the investment in training, the situation appears to be deteriorating.”
“The ones who will pay the biggest price of all for this failure are ordinary people, who are dependent on a public healthcare system that is so clearly letting them down,” said Natalie Zimmelman, CEO: SASA.
The statistics are bleak, Zimmelman says. South Africa averages 1,200 specialist anaesthesiologists for a population of about 50-million people, and there are currently just over 330 registrars in training. This is up only marginally from the number of 294 which featured in the Human Resources for Health strategy document, published by the government in January 2012.
In this document, anaesthesiology, together with other fields, was recognised as facing a critical skills shortage. In response, a projected target was set by government of 1,312 additional anaesthesiologists by 2025. However, no progress has since been made and the pool remains the same.
“We have been engaging with the country’s health authorities to invest more time, energy and resources into ensuring the sustainability of this vital medical speciality.”
“This is not just a ploy to further our own agenda. We remain committed to rectifying this situation. For example, SASA is currently working with the Limpopo Department of Health to ensure that there is enhanced training in anaesthesia for the existing doctors working in the province,” she said.
SASA believes that successful co-operation in one province would indicate the possibility of addressing the nationwide crisis.
“South Africa has to take a long-term strategic view in developing specialised skills such as anaesthesiology. There has to be a separate budget for specialised medical training, to ensure that the desired growth in skills development is never compromised,” Zimmelman concluded.
