According to Premier Sisi Ntombela, more funds will be allocated to the Health Department in efforts to address increasing concerns within the healthcare system. 

Delivering her State of the Province Address, Ntombela has committed to filling vacancies within the health department, and refurbish hospitals and clinics across the province. She announced that 15 more ambulances and 20 mobile clinics will be bought and distributed to rural areas after the 60 that were bought late last year. 

Ntombela said thousands of medical positions, however, remains vacant in the province and they are working on measures to ensure that they fill these vacancies before the end of the financial year.

"Considering our high burden of disease, we need to recruit 457 more doctors and 1 710 more nurses".

At the beginning of the year, the Democratic Nursing Organisation of South Africa (Denosa) expressed its concerns regarding the increasing number of nurses who are not placed despite having completed their community service. The organisation raised questions as to why there are nurses still battling to get employed while public healthcare facilities across the country are plagued by high vacancy rates.

Ntombela has meanwhile confirmed they have noted that there are nurses and doctors who still struggle to find placement after graduations and that they are working on measures to place them at hospitals and clinics that will be opened this year after upgrades.

Ntombela says the Parys Hospital, Moroka Hospital, Fezi Ngubentombi Hospital in Sasolburg, and Mafube Hospital in Frankfort are amongst some of the hospitals that are being refurbished.

Her statement on the state of healthcare systems also comes a month after the DA in the province conducted unannounced oversight visits and lambasted the department over the poor conditions found at many public facilities.

OFM News