READER LETTER | Urgent solutions needed for healthcare crisis

Last year, more than 700 nurses in Limpopo had their contracts abruptly terminated because of lack of funds.

The very fact that nurses are employed on a contract basis is strange. Those who apply for overseas jobs have every reason to expect to be on renewable contracts, for obvious reasons.

But that does not mean it should become a trend adopted for nurses serving their own country. So, the department of health is not only failing to train more health professionals but can’t employ enough because SA has no money.

This, in a country that cannot wait to implement universal healthcare coverage. As I watched doctors protesting one NCA on Monday, I could not believe that the deputy health minister was saying that the health minister actually encouraged doctors to go into private practice or emigrate overseas.

Only well-experienced doctors could be encouraged to work abroad. Doctors who end up being successful in their careers are those that have gathered a lot of experience working in hospitals.

The department of health has to stop their fixation on NHI and universal healthcare coverage. They obviously do not even understand how it works, and what the demands and challenges of a successful rollout of NHI and UHC are. The government has a duty to find urgent solutions to the crisis facing healthcare delivery: this is a pressing matter and it is non-negotiable.

Cometh Dube-Makholwa, Midrand