Gauteng Health Department admits to huge nursing shortage
25 June 2018
Gauteng Health MEC Gwen Ramokgopa has disclosed that the Gauteng Health Department is facing a “critical shortage of skilled nursing personnel”, and that it is operating on a staff establishment based on the provincial population of 2006, when there were 4.8 million fewer people.
She said this last week on Friday at a Nurses Seminar Round Table Discussion held in Krugersdorp.
The number of nursing posts is based on a population of 9.5 million in 2006, but this has now “grown to an estimated 14.278 million over the past 12 years without any upward adjustment.”
This situation has been worsened by a circular to hospitals directing them to fill only 50% of vacant funded posts occupied by retired, resigned and deceased nursing personnel.