Question NW3210 to the Minister of Health
13 October 2022 - NW3210
Luthuli, Mr BN to ask the Minister of Health
Whether, in view of the important role that advanced nurse practitioners (ANPs) play in national and international health care (details furnished), what are the reasons that (a) the Government is not making more of a concerted effort to train more ANPs in an attempt to address the Republic’s health care system which continues to struggle with a shortage of doctors and (b) more posts that fully utilise the capacity of qualified APNs in the Republic are not prioritised in the Republic’s healthcare system?
Reply:
a) Training of specialist nurses, as referred to as ANPs in the question here above, has always been a priority for the national and provincial departments of health. Accordingly 11 118 Clinical ANPs have been trained between 2017 and 2021. In addition all public colleges have prioritised ANP as part of new programmes which commenced in January 2020. Accordingly with finalisation of accreditation processes by the Council of Higher Education ( CHE) it is anticipated that public nursing colleges will continue to produce ANPs.
In terms of the statement “attempt to address the Republic’s health care system which continues to struggle with a shortage of doctors” it is to be noted that doctors and nurses, including specialist nurses, have different scopes of practice and can thus not replace each other.
(b) All posts for health professionals including those that utilize the capacity of qualified APNs in the Republic’s healthcare system are prioritised to ensure that the required health skills mix is provided in all the levels of care.
END.