Long working hours, overwhelming patient numbers and inadequate payment led to the first strike by doctors in South Africa.
About 500 of 12 000 full-time doctors at state hospitals in six provinces went on strike two weeks ago demanding a 50 per cent increase in salaries but after a week some returned to work under a court interdict ordering them back.
State doctors are torn between their obligation to put patients first and making ends meet.
Doctors at some hospitals treat up to 100 patients a day. The World Health Organisation says for doctors to function best they should see no more than 10 a day.
“Because of the nature of the job it’s not appropriate for a doctor to strike,” says Dr Mark Sonderup, chairperson of the Western Cape division of the SA Medical Association (Sama). “The mere fact that doctors are striking or opting for a go-slow - which is what most of these doctors are doing - indicates their level of frustration.”
Dr Marinus van der Westhuizen (28), a second-year intern, says, “Working 14 days in a row without a break is not uncommon for me.” He sees about 30 patients a day at a medical ward and when he goes to outpatient clinics about 100 patients are divided among four doctors.
“We often run out of supplies - basic things such as latex gloves in an environment where HIV is a huge problem.”
Four of his friends didn’t even consider working in SA and went overseas immediately after completing their studies.
In SA an intern earns around R120 000 a year while a chief specialist earns little more than R700 000. A chief specialist usually has a postgraduate degree, 10 years’ postgraduate experience and often heads an entire unit.
“If you compare this with the captain of a wide-bodied aircraft who gets paid R1,4 million a year you have to ask the question: why are doctors so undervalued?” Dr Sonderup says. “We want government to acknowledge this is a real problem. They find enormous sums of money to do other things, such as bailing out South African Airways, so they need to find a way to pay our doctors. We have diagnosed the problem; now it’s time to fix it.”
