Nursing shortage of thousands requires a parliamentary inquiry
6 September 2016
I have written a letter to the Chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on Health requesting that a parliamentary inquiry, pursuant to National Assembly Rule 167, be undertaken into the state of the nursing profession in South Africa which sees an alarming shortage in the thousands. This in itself could have damaging effects on our nation’s ability to provide quality healthcare, particularly for the poor.
Parliament cannot continue in its usual attitude to wait for the situation to reach crisis level before moving to action. It has a duty to investigate this problem and to make recommendation to fix it if we are to avoid our healthcare system slipping further into crisis.
Other challenges plaguing this sector include:
A shortage of nurses: According to the South African Nursing Council (SANC), the national output of registered nurses and midwives (following the four year training programme) was 3291 in 2015. However, in a HRH strategy document, the National Department estimated that there was already a professional nursing shortage of 44 780 in the public sector in 2010. The nursing workforce gap simply will not be filled if such a slow rate of growth continues.
Uneven distribution of nurses: Nurses in the public sector face massive workloads and relatively poor conditions as compared to their colleagues in the private sector. Furthermore, there is a substantial rural/urban divide, with fewer nurses placed in rural and remote areas where health facilities are often seriously under-resourced.
Major problems in nursing training: The rate of training of new nurses is far too low to meet health service demands. Furthermore, improvements in nursing training has been impeded by poor engagement from the SANC and the Department of Higher Education and Training.
These factors have had a devastating impact on the morale of our nurses as well as the quality of care experienced by patients.
Our nurses form the backbone of our health system. Indeed, without nurses many elements of our health services – from primary health care to highly specialized services – would simply cease. Many of our nurses work tirelessly in the delivery of these services and should be applauded for their tremendous service to our country.
In light of the above, I have asked the Chairperson to launch parliamentary inquiry aimed at addressing these and other challenges faced by the nursing profession. I have also made recommendations in this regard and hope for a speedy response in dealing with this matter.
The DA will continue holding government accountable for providing better healthcare services to all South Africans.
Issued by Heinrich Volmink, DA Shadow Deputy Minister of Health, 6 September 2016
