The Gauteng Department of Health said it was in the process of ensuring that all hospitals in the province that were without permanent CEOs and other essential staff members were fully resourced.
A spokesperson for the department, Motalatale Modiba, said the provincial government had been advertising posts weekly in circulars and in local newspapers. He said there were different reasons for the staffing problems in Gauteng’s hospitals.
“All the vacancies that we currently have are prioritised for filling. The vacancies were either due to people resigning for greener pastures, as is the case with the CEOs of Steve Biko and Dr George Mukhari (academic hospitals), which we recently announced. Others are due to people going on retirement or their contracts having expired,” Modiba said.
He said the recruitment process was already under way, with the post having been advertised towards the end of April 2023.
“We hope to fill the vacancies within this first quarter of the financial year. The patients who come to our hospitals are a priority to us.”
Both the DA in Gauteng and the Health and Allied Workers Indaba Trade Union (Haitu) had complained that the fact that some hospitals did not have permanent CEOs was impacting the quality of health care in hospitals. They also complained that nurses and other essential staff members were impacted by the problems at senior management level.
DA shadow MEC for health Jack Bloom said it was important that vacant positions be filled urgently. Bloom said many of the poor in Gauteng relied on public hospitals for health care.
“Acting CEOs lack authority and are unlikely to take the initiative or root out vested interests. The recent Ombud's report into Rahima Moosa Hospital was critical of low standards for CEO recruitment and laid down the criteria for appointments of top people with the required qualifications and experience,” he said.
The list of hospitals that did not have permanent CEOs included the Steve Biko Academic Hospital, Dr George Mukhari Academic Hospital, Rahima Moosa Mother and Child Hospital, Kopanong Hospital, South Rand Hospital, Tembisa Hospital and Pretoria West Hospital.