21 Emergency Care Officers dismissed: Limpopo Health department fails to ensure regulatory body compliance.
The DA in Limpopo has written to Limpopo Health MEC, Phophi Ramathuba, to address concerns over the dismissal of 21 Emergency Care Officers.
The department dismissed 21 Emergency Medical Officers for failing to meet required standards to remain active members of the Health Professional Council of South Africa. A further 46 officers have been requested to provide proof of their membership. It is not clear how the department was unaware of the unsuitable status with the regulatory body.
Such a large oversight by the department with regards to the registration of EMS personnel is unacceptable. It further raises questions about the registration status of other health professionals and personnel.
The department already has R15 billion in contingent liability due to litigation and can’t afford to continue poorly managing its personnel and provide healthcare with healthcare professionals that are not in compliance with the appropriate regulatory bodies.
The dismissal of these employees will further worsen the understaffing in the department and affect the quality of healthcare people in Limpopo receive. According to the department’s annual report each programme has a high vacancy rate of posts on the approved establishment.
The province has a vacancy rate of 43.7% in emergency medical service, 52.1% in health administration posts, 73.7% vacancy rate in health sciences training, 54.6% vacancy rate in provincial hospital services, 53.3% in district health services and 55.5% in central hospital service.
The DA believes that a situation like this should have been prevented as Ramathuba and her department must have processes in place to ensure all personnel are registered and in good standing with the various regulatory bodies. We will further ask questions to determine what new measures are being taken to avoid a similar incident in the future.
We remain committed to ensuring that residents of Limpopo receive adequate healthcare services from appropriately registered healthcare professionals.
