Fewer specialist doctors are being trained in South Africa as their educators instead choose to prioritise work in the private sector.<\/p>\n
Speaking to the Sunday Times<\/a><\/strong>, Dr Chris Archer, chief executive officer of specialist doctors group the South African Private Practitioners Forum, said that the issues primarily stem from the Remunerative Work Outside Public Service (RWOPS) policy.<\/p>\n This policy allows specialists on the government\u2019s payroll to work in the private sector. However, this has had the knock-on effect of doctors prioritising their private-sector work over responsibilities such as training students, he said.<\/p>\n Speaking to the paper, consultancy firm Healthman said that in extreme cases it had seen specialists running five private practices while earning a full-time salary from the government.<\/p>\n Dean of the Wits Medical School, Martin Veller, also acknowledged that the policy had caused issues with training.<\/p>\n “It has a (negative) effect on training, particularly in settings where it is not adequately controlled. On the other hand it has also resulted in the retention of some specialists in the public sector,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n The latest statistics show that there are nine specialists for every 100,000 patients in state hospitals. Government has previously set a target of 42.46 specialists for every 100,000 patients.<\/p>\n Doctor shortage<\/strong><\/p>\n While a possible shortage of specialist doctors is a growing concern, Health minister Dr Zweli Mkhize says South Africa is also facing a general doctor and nurse shortage due to a lack of funding.<\/p>\n