SA faces a severe lack of anaesthesiologists as training stalls
by Staff Writer,
2016-03-02 11:50:47.0
THE South African Society of Anaesthesiologists (Sasa) says there is a "frightening" lack of anaesthesiologists in SA.
"This is a real concern for the country’s health sector — and a very real issue that the national Department of Health does not seem to be focusing on. Instead of growing the investment in training‚ the situation appears to be deteriorating‚" the society said on Wednesday.
SA averages 1‚200 specialist anaesthesiologists for a population of about 50-million people. There are currently just more than 330 registrars in anaesthesiology in SA. This is up only marginally from the number of 294, which featured in the Human Resources for Health strategy document‚ published by the government in January 2012.
The society said in that document that anaesthesiology‚ together with other fields‚ was recognised as facing a critical skills shortage. In response to this shortage‚ a projected target was set by government: 1‚312 additional anaesthesiologists by 2025. "Unfortunately‚ no progress has since been made and the pool of anaesthesiologists in SA remains the same."
The dominoes have already started to fall in situations where people‚ especially those in rural areas‚ aren’t able to access proper medical care‚ which in turn leads to compounded and worsened medical problems. This adds to the heavy burden that public healthcare already carries‚ the society said.
The private sector was not immune either‚ as it suffered due to a lack of properly trained anaesthesiologists as well.
The lack of resources‚ and fewer resources doing more‚ breeds malpractice‚ leading to unnecessary mistakes that end up in preventable disabilities and even deaths‚ it warns.
"Essentially‚ the Department of Health’s freeze on the funding and facilitation of the increased education‚ training and employment of anaesthesiologists means that people will suffer. And as is the case in general‚ the ones who will suffer the most are poor South Africans, who rely absolutely on the public healthcare system," Sasa said.
"Change has to be implemented now‚ urgently‚ so that we do not end up with an even worse situation in the medium to long term."
SA has to take a long-term strategic view in developing specialised skills such as anaesthesiology‚ the society recommends. "There has to be a separate budget for specialised medical training‚ to ensure that the desired growth in skills development is never compromised."
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Picture: THINKSTOCK
THE South African Society of Anaesthesiologists (Sasa) says there is a "frightening" lack of anaesthesiologists in SA.
"This is a real concern for the country’s health sector — and a very real issue that the national Department of Health does not seem to be focusing on. Instead of growing the investment in training‚ the situation appears to be deteriorating‚" the society said on Wednesday.
SA averages 1‚200 specialist anaesthesiologists for a population of about 50-million people. There are currently just more than 330 registrars in anaesthesiology in SA. This is up only marginally from the number of 294, which featured in the Human Resources for Health strategy document‚ published by the government in January 2012.
The society said in that document that anaesthesiology‚ together with other fields‚ was recognised as facing a critical skills shortage. In response to this shortage‚ a projected target was set by government: 1‚312 additional anaesthesiologists by 2025. "Unfortunately‚ no progress has since been made and the pool of anaesthesiologists in SA remains the same."
The dominoes have already started to fall in situations where people‚ especially those in rural areas‚ aren’t able to access proper medical care‚ which in turn leads to compounded and worsened medical problems. This adds to the heavy burden that public healthcare already carries‚ the society said.
The private sector was not immune either‚ as it suffered due to a lack of properly trained anaesthesiologists as well.
The lack of resources‚ and fewer resources doing more‚ breeds malpractice‚ leading to unnecessary mistakes that end up in preventable disabilities and even deaths‚ it warns.
"Essentially‚ the Department of Health’s freeze on the funding and facilitation of the increased education‚ training and employment of anaesthesiologists means that people will suffer. And as is the case in general‚ the ones who will suffer the most are poor South Africans, who rely absolutely on the public healthcare system," Sasa said.
"Change has to be implemented now‚ urgently‚ so that we do not end up with an even worse situation in the medium to long term."
SA has to take a long-term strategic view in developing specialised skills such as anaesthesiology‚ the society recommends. "There has to be a separate budget for specialised medical training‚ to ensure that the desired growth in skills development is never compromised."
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