A doctor shortage has led to the Red Cross Children’s hospital closing its doors to patients requiring medical emergency assistance on a number of evenings.
To address the situation in the long term, the hospital called for the quicker processing of work permits for foreign doctors at the home affairs department and registration through the Health Professions Council.
”The department of health may be called upon to increase the number of community doctors available in the Western Cape,” said a statement on Thursday from the University of Cape Town’s School of Child and Adolescent Health at the hospital.
The unit, which is responsible for medical emergency cases and children referred from primary health care facilities, functioned optimally with a team of seven senior house officers (SHO) but from July had decreased to three, it said in a statement.
”Despite a desperate drive by the hospital to find suitable applicants to fill the posts, the response has been poor and of the hospital’s 14 SHO posts, only five have been filled.”
The hospital said the absence of suitable candidates could be attributed to long working hours, an increase in doctors relocating overseas and the slow and lengthy registration process required by the Health Professions Council for recruiting foreign doctors.
”International doctors eagerly waiting to enter our borders face similar deterrents as work permits and clearance can take up to six months,” the statement said.
”In the past some of the posts were filled by community service doctors but, with the cut from 100 down to 80 in the Western Cape and no allocations in 2004 to the Red Cross Children’s hospital, we are faced with an inability to meet the needs of the community,” said Mignon McCulloch, head of the renal unit and co-ordinator of
training for SHOs at hospital.
”We need to look after our current staff by keeping hours down and need to fill the posts in order to improve on working conditions while maintaining high levels of medical care.”
He said working at the hospital held immense personal rewards for the doctors with excellent teaching platforms, a loving environment and strong support.
However, the working hours had become unbearable and the teams were taking strain.
The Red Cross Children’s hospital is the only dedicated specialist paediatric hospital in sub-Saharan Africa.
It treats over 200 000 children a year, referred because of the expertise in all areas of paediatric care. Most of its patients are from disadvantaged communities throughout South Africa and the rest of Africa. – Sapa