Question NW760 to the Minister of Health
05 April 2023 - NW760
Clarke, Ms M to ask the Minister of Health
(1)For each province, what (a) total number of nurses have been terminated due to their registration lapsing at the Health Professions Council of South Africa and (b) has been the reasons for the registration lapses; (2) given the critical shortage of nurses, what steps have been taken to assist nurses with their lapsed registration?
Reply:
1. The honourable member should note that nurses do not register with the Health Professions Council of South Africa (HPCSA), but with the South African Nursing Council (SANC).
(a)-(b) As per the information received from the SANC, the total number of nurses whose membership was terminated or their names removed due to their registration lapsing is 21 332 over the period of 2021 to 2022, as per the table below. The reasons are also reflected in the very table below.
Table 1.
|
Reason for removal |
|||||
Province |
Deceased |
Removed - Administratively |
Removed - At own request |
Removed - Disciplinary |
Removed - Non-payment of annual fee |
Grand Total |
Eastern Cape |
14 |
2 |
8 |
1 |
3020 |
3045 |
Free State |
|
|
3 |
|
1086 |
1089 |
Gauteng |
24 |
3 |
32 |
5 |
5257 |
5321 |
KwaZulu-Natal |
39 |
5 |
27 |
0 |
4708 |
4779 |
Limpopo |
16 |
|
2 |
3 |
1622 |
1643 |
Mpumalanga |
2 |
2 |
1 |
0 |
929 |
934 |
North-West |
8 |
|
5 |
|
1362 |
1375 |
Northern Cape |
1 |
|
0 |
1 |
343 |
345 |
Outside RSA |
|
|
4 |
|
84 |
88 |
Western Cape |
7 |
6 |
21 |
0 |
2679 |
2713 |
Grand Total |
111 |
18 |
103 |
10 |
21090 |
21332 |
2. In order to assist nurses with their lapsed registration, the Department has successfully signed Resolution 3 of 2019 at the Public Health and Social Development Sectoral Bargaining Council (PHSDSBC) which is an agreement on payment of annual statutory registration fees in respect of health and social development professionals (including Nurses)
The objective of the Resolution amongst others is to:
- Introduce mandatory deductions of professional registration fees from salary of employees by PERSAL as required by the respective statutory professional bodies in the Health and Social Development Departments.
- Assist in the monitoring of potential risks and compliance with registration requirement for appointment and practice as stipulated in the respective Statutory Professional bodies in the departments
END.