KwaZulu-Natal health department seeks R500 million to hire specialist doctors

SKILLS SHORTAGE

- THAMI MAGUBANE

THE Department of Health in KwaZulu-Natal needs close to R500 million to address the skills shortage, particularly that of specialist doctors.

Premier Thami Ntuli said they are engaging with the national government to secure funding to fill the vacancies within the department. He recalled that the provincial government has raised R100 million to fill some of the posts, including those for doctors, but it still needs an additional R500 million to employ more health professionals.

Specialist doctors have warned that the situation is likely to worsen in the coming years as these skills become more scarce. They expressed concern that the shortage of specialists has reached critical levels.

Ntuli spoke to The Mercury recently about the work and challenges faced by the provincial government, noting that over the last few years, due to budget cuts, his government has lost close to R70 billion, which is why the Departments of Health and Education have encountered so many challenges.

He highlighted the issue of critical vacancies within the Department of Health, pointing out that the shortage of specialist skills needs to be addressed, as the government cannot “let people die.”