South Africa is facing a critical shortage of nurses as private hospitals are restricted from training more caregivers, according to the country\u2019s largest private healthcare network.<\/p>\n
Although most South African hospitals have their own nursing colleges, only designated universities can issue professional nursing qualifications.<\/p>\n
This is despite the fact that the country has an estimated shortage of between 26,000 and 62,000 nurses, as well as a large proportion of health workers due to retire by 2030, Richard Friedland, chief executive officer of Netcare, said in an interview Monday.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe tragedy is we\u2019ve got tens of thousands of people applying to become nurses every year, and in a country that is beset by such a skill shortage, by such rampant unemployment, it\u2019s almost inexplicable that government isn\u2019t opening the doors to allow the private sector to train,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Netcare has the capacity to train more than 3,500 nurses a year, but has only been accredited to take about 10% of that, said Friedland. He said the company is collaborating with the government and other bodies to try and make better use of excess nursing college capacity.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s akin to the Eskom crisis,\u201d he said, referring to the crippling power cuts South Africa is facing because Eskom \u2013 the state-owned company that supplies about 90% of the nation\u2019s electricity \u2013 can\u2019t meet demand from its dilapidated plants.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe private sector, through the Hospital Association of South Africa, is galvanized at the moment. We\u2019re exploring all of our options in this regard, and we\u2019re not excluding taking legal action<\/strong>,\u201d added Friedland.<\/p>\n Nursing shortages are not unique to South Africa, and many countries are facing severe shortages of workers post-pandemic.<\/p>\n Netcare earlier reported a rise in paid patient days in the six months through March compared with a year earlier and said it expects full-year revenue growth of between 9% and 12%.<\/p>\n
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