Health
(1) (a) What role does her Department play in identifying medical-intern training or placement opportunities in the Province and (b) how many medical interns are currently placed in the Western Cape provincial healthcare system;
(2) whether there is an opportunity to address the current pressures on the healthcare system through the appointment of additional medical interns in the Province; if not, why not; if so, what are the relevant details;
(3) whether there is anything that prevents her Department from offering placement to additional medical interns; if so;
(4) whether there is a cost or budget constraint; if so; what is the cost per placement of a medical intern;
(5) whether her Department has made any offer to appoint additional medical interns; if not, why not; if so, (a) to whom and (b) what are the relevant details?
1. The number of medical interns that can be accommodated in the Department is dependent on:
- The HPCSA number of accredited medical intern placements and budget.
- The placement of medical interns in accredited posts is a function of the National Department of Health, which uses the Internship and Community Service Placement [ICSP] to allocate interns to posts.
2/3/4 and 5 In addition to HPCSA accreditation of posts, the number of interns that the Department is limited by the available budget for:
- The medical interns; and
- The cost of the senior medical staff that are required to supervise them.
- The annual per capita for medical interns is R693 000.
The total cost for the 664 medical interns = R 460 152 000
(This is funded through equitable share & HRCG
The number of accredited medical intern posts was 552 in 2018 and has since increased to 691 in 2021.
