Posts remain empty in North West’s psychiatric hospitals
The province’s health department blames the dearth of nurses and psychologists on budget allocations that limit its hiring of staff
On Wednesday, MPs grilled North West health MEC Magome Masike over the high vacancy rates in the province’s psychiatric hospitals, which are particularly high for nurses and psychologists. The situation is most serious at the 982-bed Witrand Hospital, where six of the 13 posts for clinical psychologists, and 32 of the 158 positions for professional nurses, are empty. At the 368-bed Bophelong Hospital, 18 of its 105 posts for professional nurses have not been filled. "Clearly if you have a shortage of nurses, the people who suffer will be the patients," said the DA’s shadow health minister Wilmot James. Masike said the province struggled to recruit and retain healthcare professionals because so many of its facilities were in rural areas. "Most professionals want to be in the big lights of Cape Town and Johannesburg," he said. The portfolio committee on health has called all the provincial health departments to present a picture of the state of their mental healthcare services in the ...
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