* NEHAWU NEHAWU Media Statement, 13 October 2011* **
*NEHAWU welcomes and supports the Human Resource for Health Strategy* **NEHAWU welcomes the Human Resource for Health Strategy {HRH SA} 2030 plan as an important milestone in transforming the health system in South Africa as articulated in the Department of Health's 10 point plan. The release of this significant document is something we have been requesting and promised by the department for some time and we commend the current leadership of the National Department of Health for eventually delivering at last.
This strategy must be viewed in conjunction with the Green paper on National Health Insurance which will generate the resources and also the re-engineering of primary health care, both of which will make health services accessible to poor communities particularly those in the rural areas.
While we support the push by the National Minister of Health, Dr Aaron Motsoaledi, for universities to produce more health professionals in particular doctors, we want to emphasize that the increase in the production of health professionals should not simply focus on numbers. It is very much necessary that these health workers must be of a calibre that understands the primary health needs of the country and also be able to work within the primary care level, in particular the health care needs of our rural communities.
NEHAWU maintains that this will require a number of additional measures such as:
* Clinical training that should not be limited to regional and
tertiary level but must be extended to the primary level i.e.
district hospitals and even clinics, and should include
rotations to rural areas.
* Transforming the production of health professionals from
historically white universities to reflect the demographics of
the country -- race, gender and geography. The training of black
doctors cannot be left to institutions such as MEDUNSA and
Walter Sisulu that according to the minister "have produced more
black doctors than all 6 faculties put together".
In many countries, nurses working together with community health workers
have become the backbone of turning around high levels of disease
burden. While welcoming the R1.24 billion earmarked for the
revitalisation of the nursing colleges, the strategy must also bring to
life the other agreements made at the pioneering Nursing Summit in April.
The initiative by the minister to bring retired nurses and doctors will assist in the short term but cannot be a replacement for filling all vacant posts in restructured services. This was resolved long time ago during bargaining process and we believe that this would be a remedy for the current practice of moonlighting which is currently badly damaging the quality of health service delivery.
The strategy is also silent on support personnel which NEHAWU believes would be an additional means to improve service delivery. Poor management or inadequate staffing for services contribute to the difficult work conditions faced by health professionals as they are often caught up in performing administrative tasks. Unfortunately the strategy does not say anything about outsourced workers and services which we believe must be remedied.
The strategy needs to speak to the future of functions that are outsourced as they are vital to the clinical operations of health facilities. The evidence of the negative impact of outsourcing on the quality of health service delivery has been increasingly well-documented. We have seen recent reports of the security of staff working at various institutions being severely compromised by the lack of protection from outsourced security guards, reports of increasing infections at hospitals due to lack of adequate cleaning and patients taking their own food and linen to hospitals due to shortages.
Linked to this is a concern we have on the nature of the public-private partnerships of the 5 flagship projects. NEHAWU's position has always been that we are opposed to any partnership which will allow the private sector to manage and/or operate the institutions, including accommodating private wards in state hospitals. In the case of tertiary hospitals our opposition is even more so as they will be the focus of much of the work-based training for public higher education institutions.
Our union acknowledge this groundbreaking initiative and look forward to continued engagement with the Department with a view to working together in deepening the development and implementation of the Human Resources for Health Strategy.
*Issued by NEHAWU Secretariat Office* *For further information, please contact: Sizwe Pamla (NEHAWU Media Liaison Officer) at 011 833 2902 - 082 558 5962 or email:[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]>
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