Health

(1) Nurses and doctors across the service against the population:

Population	Total Doctor	Total Nurse	Doctor to patient ratio	Nurse to patient ratio
6 130 791	2 628	12 556	2 333	488

Hospital Patient Day Equivalents (PDE’s) to nurses and doctors in hospitals and PHC headcount to nurses and doctors in PHC facilities using 2013-14 patient data

 

2013-14 DATA AGAINST CURRENT STAFFING
FACILITY TYPE	Doctor	Nurse	PDE	PHC headcount	PDE per Nurse	PDE per doctor	PHC headcount per nurse	PHC headcount per doctor
Central and Tertiary Hosp	1 283	4 028	1 132 433		281	883
Regional Hosp	357	1 530	576 489		377	1 615
District hospital	454	2 683	1 296 142		483	2 855
Psychiatric	99	1 000	569 423		569	5 752
TB Hospital	22	337	272 867		810	12 403
Rehab hosp (WCRC)	5	149	47 589		319	9 518
PHC facilities (PGWC excl CoCT)	330	2 684		11 084 556			4 130	33 590

(2)      The Department has a human resource plan for all levels of staffing.

As with any health department, our department also experience challenges to fill scarce and limited skills posts. Scarce skills posts include: Medical Orthotists, Clinical Technologists, Pharmacists, Industrial Technicians. Limited skills posts include: Nursing posts in specific specialty areas such as: emergency care, theatre and intensive care; advanced psychiatry, advanced midwifery and paediatric; Family physicians; Radiographers in specialty areas (ultrasound, oncology and nuclear medicine); Engineering technicians and Forensic pathology officers.

A core group of skilled financial and supply chain management staff also need to be established in the field of budgetary and expenditure control, financial forecasting, financial audits and Financial Business Unit management. The department is in the process of identifying/developing mechanisms to develop, recruit and retain such skills in order to better address the burden of disease at all levels of care and to manage the funding envelope. 

Vacant funded positions: As on 8 September 2014, the total of vacant funded posts accumulated to 789 which constitute a 4.94% vacancy rate. 

(3)      The Western Cape Government Health’s objective is to recruit and retain talented employees. We have reviewed our Recruitment and Selection Policy for the Head of Department for a mandate to consult at the Provincial Bargaining Chamber. We are also in the process of developing a retention strategy.