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QUESTION 1
HUMAN RESOURCES
South Africa only has 0.8 physicians per 1000 people according to Jonathan Broomberg, the CEO of Discovery
Health. (Broomberg, 2011), this information is supported by the world bank and the world health
organisation. In 2010, SA had only 1.58 psychosocial providers for every 100,000 people.
(Global Health Observatory, 2016)(The World Bank, 2015) (Tim A et al., 2011)
Indicator Name
1965
1992
2004
2005
2010
2014
2015
2016
Physicians (per 1,000 people)
0.488
0.624
0.731
0.756
0.767
0.81
Specialist surgical workforce (per 100,000
population)
11.53
Community health workers (per 1,000 people)
0.192
Hospital beds (per 1,000 people)
2.8
Psychosocial providers (per 100,000 population)
1.58
South Africa clearly needs more practitioners within the public and private sectors, in the public hospitals
the people often que for hours before seeing a doctor and many times they are requested to come back the
next day. Critical patients are seen first, and the rest remain sitting for hours, old and young.
Adequately trained staff are also critical to the health care system, there have been many situations where
the patients has received incorrect information or has been discharged early and this has lead to their death.
(News24, 2012)
POOR WORKING CONDITIONS LEADING TO LOSS OF HUMAN RESOURCE
Figure 1 Density of Physicians
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Many of South Africans public sector mental health facilities are subject to poor working conditions,
according to a survey done by the Collages of Medicine of South Africa, most doctors left the public sector
or emigrated due to poor remuneration and work place conditions and security. (Chambers, 2017)(Commons
et al., 2017). The general public sector delivers health care services to almost 80% of the population of South
Africa and cannot afford to lose more doctors to the private sector or emigration. Some of these conditions
include, lack of doctors, nurses, volunteers, no internet access or telephone lines, insufficient testing areas,
poor sanitation, shortage of medicines and equipment, shortage of beds for patients, damaged
infrastructure, non-functioning air conditioners, lack of proper disposal of medical device, the nurses and
doctors that do work in the public sector often have to work long hours.
Doctors have also been injured by patients, in 2011 Mpumalanga a Doctor was stabbed by a patient, (Khan
and Padayachee, 2011)
Below are findings by the DA they accounted during a speech held on 5th May 2015.
“Reliable electricity supply is a serious risk at Baragwanath, Rob Ferreira and Pelanomi;
Staff shortages are causing unacceptably long queues at Pelanomi, Kuruman, Klerksdorp-Tshepong,
