The Minister of Health, Joe Phaahla has committed to open engagements with the South African Medical Association Trade Union SAMATU regarding their grievances.
The undertaking has been made after SAMATU marched to the Department of Health in Tshwane demanding that it capacitate the health system
“I want to say to you that indeed we accept this. We regret that it had to come to this level to make this a basic right of the people. We will make sure that it is attended and we will make proper arrangements for feedback and deeper engagement,” said Phaahla.
SAMATU secretary general Cedric Sihlangu wants the department to hire unemployed doctors to capacite the healthcare system.
South Africa’s hospitals are facing a shortage of healthcare workers including doctors and nurses while many nurses and doctors are unemployed.
“The reason we are here is to raise the plight of over a 1000 plus unemployed doctors . We find this current situation untenable in a country that has a failing healthcare system where we find clinics and hospitals not having staff, not having doctors and a few that you have are very exhausted and reaching a state of burnout.
‘So it can’t be that we have doctors sitting at home when, if a patient wants to see a doctor in a hospital or in a community center they would spend around five hours,’ said Sihlangu adding the doctors must be employed so they can service the community members.
