The Eastern Cape’s health services brain drain is being turned around with more than double the number of health professionals recruited than resigned in the past year, the provincial health department said on Tuesday.
Spokesperson Sizwe Kupelo said the Eastern Cape had managed to recruit about 3 600 new employees, mostly clinicians, in the financial year now ending.
This includes more than 500 doctors recruited since July, mainly for working in the province’s rural areas.
Health service resignations dropped from about 3 000 a year to 1 700 in the same year.
”We are very happy,” said Kupelo.
He said thousands of health professionals were paid a total of R167-million in outstanding payments, a problem that had dogged the province for years.
These included payments to about 14 000 nurses and about 3 900 other staff. Payments to another 823 people were being processed while claims by 1 387 people were rejected but could be reassessed.
Kupelo said the payments were for nurses’ allowances, rank promotions, overtime, leave gratuities, uniform allowances, homeowners’ allowances, long service awards, additional qualifications, bonuses and merit awards.
”We have called upon everyone to come forward with their claims.” — Sapa