Newsroom
Response: "Short staffed hospital may be forced to close”
Following an article published by TimesLIVE titled Short-staffed hospital may be forced to close refers to the Madwaleni hospital, a 180-bed hospital in the Amathole health district of the Eastern Cape, Africa Health Placements has issued the following statement:
Africa Health Placements has worked with Madwaleni Hospital for three years. In November 2011 we were made aware of an impending staff crisis whereby four doctors were planning to leave in the first two months of 2012. Three of the doctors who were leaving were AHP foreign-qualified doctors and had cited a number of different reasons for their departure, ranging from the imminent end of their contracts to suffering from burn out.
Madwaleni currently faces a situation of having only two AHP foreign-qualified junior doctors. AHP is busy recruiting new doctors for the hospital to avoid a situation where only two junior doctors remain. The recruitment process for Madwaleni focuses on senior doctors. AHP has recruited a suitable candidate to take up the chief medical officer (CMO) post and is in the process of verifying her documentation, registering her with the HPCSA and concluding her recruitment process.
AHP is also awaiting HPCSA approval for two foreign-qualified doctors looking to work at Madwaleni Hospital, as well as two doctors who are awaiting verification of their qualifications from the Educational Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates (ECFMG), one of which is for the CMO position. In total, AHP hopes to have five AHP doctors in the hospital within the next three months.
In the interim, AHP has elicited assistance from Zithulele Hospital, a neighbouring hospital mere 60 km from Madwaleni Hospital. Zithulele Hospital is also strained by the decreased capability of Madwaleni, with patients who would have received medical treatment at Madwaleni now forced to go to Zithulele.
Zithulele Hospital is attempting to find available clinical associates to will be making regular visits to Madwaleni and assisting in the interim. The nursing staff have also been requested to fill the gap and assist where possible and within the range and scope of their work. AHP has also rolled over its rural doctors’ support programme to the Amathole district to specifically facilitate and assist in making this now fledgling hospital a beacon of rural health once again.
Additionally, the Department of Health is aware of the situation and have placed two of their clinical associates at Madwaleni this week (11 January 2012).
While the possible solutions may be many, the reality is that Madwaleni hospital, like many others across the country, requires a full, well-functioning complement of health personnel; strong leadership to drive this, ensure sustainability and implement a succession plan, as well as a unified team incorporating and using all medical personnel at its disposal.
