Question NW2211 to the Minister of Health

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29 October 2020 - NW2211

Profile picture: Wilson, Ms ER

Wilson, Ms ER to ask the Minister of Health

With reference to reports being received that highly qualified medical personnel are being turned down for positions in hospitals and other public health institutions in KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) because they do not meet the BEEE criteria, what (a) exactly are the criteria and/or protocols for employing specialised personnel in his department, (b) are the reasons that specialised personnel are being denied positions which are (i) not filled and (ii) being re-advertised after being rejected for the same positions and (c) is the current vacancy statistics for (i) paediatricians, (ii) dieticians, (iii) surgeons and (iv) other specialists in the KZN hospitals?

Reply:

In accordance with Section 11 of the Public Service Act, 1994, as amended, appointments and the filling of posts in the public service shall be in accordance with equality and the other democratic values and principles enshrined in the Constitution. Thus, all persons who qualify for the appointment, transfer or promotion concerned shall be considered; and the evaluation of persons shall be based on training, skills, competence, knowledge and the need to redress the imbalances of the past to achieve a public service broadly representative of the South African people, including representation according to race, gender and disability.

The Department is not aware of any unfair discrimination to qualifying applicants and when there were no applicant from a targeted group in terms of Employment Equity Targets institutions requests deviation on Employment Equity targets as per Departmental prescripts namely Human Resource Management Circular number 82 and 90 of 2017.

(a) The criteria for recruiting all prospective employees including but not limited to medical personnel within KZN Department of Health is done in line with the Recruitment and Selection Policy circulated under Human Resource Management Circular number 08 of 2018.

The Department is also mandated to comply with section 20 of the Employment Equity Act number 55 of 1998, as amended.

(b) (i) Human Resource processes are followed to fill the posts.

(ii) Posts being re-advertised are filled following HR processes.

(c) (i),(ii),(iii) The vacancy rate as at 30September 2020 the overall vacancy rate for Medical Specialists is 26.1% and for Dieticians is 15,6% while for the various Pediatrics and Surgery specialties, the average vacancy rate is 18, 5%.

Specified Ranks

Filled Post

Vacant Post

Grand Total

Vacancy rate

Allied Health: Dietician

179

33

212

16%

Medical Specialist

639

226

865

26%

(iv) Other specialists in the KZN hospitals

Discipline

Filled Posts

Vacant Posts

Grand Total

Vacancy Rate

ANAESTHETICS

55

29

84

34.5%

CARDIOLOGY

7

5

12

41 .7%

Discipline

Filled Post

Vacant Post

Grand Total

Vacancy Rate

CARDIOTHORACIC SURGERY

7

6

13

46.20/0

DERMATOLOGY

6

1

7

14.3%

ENDOCRINOLOGY

2

2

4

50.0%

FAMILY MEDICINE

13

3

16

18.8%

GASTROENTEROLOGY

 

1

1

100.0%

INTENSIVE CARE UNIT

10

9

 

47.4%

INTERNAL MEDICINE

49

12

61

19.7%

MAXILLO FACIAL & ORAL SURGEON

4

2

6

33.3%

MEDICINE

28

 

47

40.4%

NEONATOLOGY

19

2

21

9.5%

NEPHROLOGY

10

 

10

0.0%

NEUROLOGY

9

1

10

10.0%

NEUROSURGERY

6

2

8

25.0%

OBSTETRICS & GYNAECOLOGY

76

18

94

19.1%

ONCOLOGY

6

3

9

33.3%

OPHTHALMOLOGY

15

8

23

34.8%

ORTHO SURGERY & OPHTHALM.

3

2

5

40.0%

ORTHOPAEDICS

40

14

54

25.9%

OTORHINOLARYNGOLOGY

10

7

17

41 .2%

PAEDIATRICS & NEONATOLOGY

9

 

9

0.0%

PAEDIATRIC SURGERY

10

 

10

0.0%

PAEDIATRIC NEUROLOGY

2

 

2

0.0%

PAEDIATRICS

57

12

69

17.4%

PATHOLOGY FORENSIC

6

1

7

14.3%

PATHOLOGY HAEMATOLOGICAL

3

 

3

0.0%

PLASTIC SURG

6

3

9

33.3%

PSYCHIATRY

30

15

45

33.3%

PUBLIC HEALTH

2

3

5

60.0%

PULMONOLOGY

4

 

4

0.0%

RADIATION ONCOLOGY

 

2

2

100.0%

RADIOLOGY

27

13

40

32.5%

RHEUMATOLOGY

5

 

5

0.0%

SURGERY

72

13

85

15.3%

TRAUMA & EMERGENCY

23

11

34

32.4%

UROLOGY

8

7

15

46.7%

TOTAL (MEDICAL SPECIALISTS

639

226

865

26.1%

 

Source file