Health Minister needs to address critical shortage of mental health professionals
04 November 2014
A reply to a DA parliamentary question has revealed that South Africa suffers from a massive shortage of mental health professionals. The reply indicates that the North West, Northern Cape, Limpopo and Mpumalanga are the hardest hit in terms of an insufficient number of psychologists and psychiatrists. Limpopo and Mpumalanga have only 24.2% and 33% of the vacancies filled for psychiatrists, respectively, while the North West province has only 31% of the psychologists it needs.
This means that while the disease burden continues to increase, with an estimated one in every three South Africans suffering from some form of mental illness, our health system is unable to properly address and treat the growing number of patients. This not only has serious implications for the health and quality of life of these individuals, but may also violate their Constitutional right to access health services.
The Minister's response also reveals that the DA-run Western Cape has filled all (100%) of its vacancies for both psychologists and psychiatrists. Indeed, the province is committed to ensuring that people suffering from mental illness are not neglected by the health system, and that they are promptly diagnosed and appropriately treated.
In light of the above, the DA will write to the Minister of Health, Dr Aaron Motsoaledi, requesting that he announce a plan to ensure that the shortage of health professionals be addressed. The DA will, in its letter, ask the Minister to commit to a date by which he will table a full report and detailed plan relating to the recruitment and retention of mental health professionals. This is a matter of urgency, as a failure to act will perpetuate the suffering of thousands of South Africans.
NATIONAL ASSEMBLY
FOR WRITTEN REPLY
QUESTION NO. 586
DATE OF PUBLICATION IN INTERNAL QUESTION PAPER: 18 JULY 2014
(INTERNAL QUESTION PAPER NO. 05)
Dr H C Volmink (DA) to ask the Minister of Health:
(1) How many (a) psychiatrists and (b) clinical psychologists are employed in the public sector in each province;
(2) what percentage of posts for (a) psychiatrists and (b) clinical psychologists in the public sector are currently filled (i) nationally and (ii) in each province;
(3) what is the number of (a) psychiatrists and (b) clinical psychologists per 10 000 population (i) nationally and (ii) in each province;
(4) whether his department has a target for the densities per 10 000 population of (a) psychiatrists and (b) clinical psychologists; if not, why not; if so, what are the targets for the years (i) 2014, (ii) 2015, (iii) 2016, (iv) 2017, (v) 2018 and (vi) 2019?
NW669E
REPLY:
(1)(a) Number of Psychiatrist in each province
|
Province |
Number of Psychiatrist |
|
Kwazulu-Natal |
32 |
|
Mpumalanga |
3 |
|
Limpopo |
8 |
|
Gauteng |
79 |
|
Free State |
8 |
|
Northern Cape |
2 |
|
Eastern Cape |
18 |
|
Western Cape |
54 |
|
North West |
3 |
|
Total |
207 |
(b) Number of Clinical Psychologists in each province
|
Province |
Number of Psychologists |
|
Kwazulu-Natal |
63 |
|
Mpumalanga |
20 |
|
Limpopo |
67 |
|
Gauteng |
92 |
|
Free State |
22 |
|
Northern Cape |
11 |
|
Eastern Cape |
37 |
|
Western Cape |
38 |
|
North West |
14 |
|
Total |
364 |
(2) (a) Percentage of psychiatrists' posts currently filled in each province
|
Province |
Percentage filled |
|
Kwazulu-Natal |
94% |
|
Mpumalanga |
33% |
|
Limpopo |
24.2% |
|
Gauteng |
68.7% |
|
Free State |
70% |
|
Northern Cape |
100% |
|
Eastern Cape |
64.28% |
|
Western Cape |
100% |
|
North West |
60% |
(i) Based on the information provided by provinces the national average for psychiatrists is 68.2%
(b) Percentage of clinical psychologists' posts currently filled in each province
|
Province |
Percentage filled |
|
Kwazulu-Natal |
79% |
|
Mpumalanga |
71% |
|
Limpopo |
12.86% |
|
Gauteng |
68.7%% |
|
Free State |
82% |
|
Northern Cape |
100% |
|
Eastern Cape |
71.15% |
|
Western Cape |
100% |
|
North West |
31% |
(ii) Based on the information provided by provinces the national average for clinical psychologists is 68.4%
(3)(a) Number of Psychiatrists per 10 000 population in each province
(Please note these ratios were calculated using the Statistics South Africa mid-year population estimates by province 2013)
|
Province |
Psychiatrist |
|
Kwazulu-Natal |
0.03 |
|
Mpumalanga |
0.01 |
|
Limpopo |
0.01 |
|
Gauteng |
0.1 |
|
Free State |
0.03 |
|
Northern Cape |
0.01 |
|
Eastern Cape |
0.03 |
|
Western Cape |
0.09 |
|
North West |
0.008 |
|
Total |
0.32 |
(i) Number of psychiatrists per 10 000 population nationally is 0.32
(b) Number of clinical psychologists per 10 000 population in each province
|
Province |
Clinical psychologists |
|
Kwazulu-Natal |
0.1 |
|
Mpumalanga |
0.04 |
|
Limpopo |
0.1 |
|
Gauteng |
0.1 |
|
Free State |
0.1 |
|
Northern Cape |
0.1 |
|
Eastern Cape |
0.05 |
|
Western Cape |
0.07 |
|
North West |
0.04 |
|
Total |
0.7 |
(ii) Number of clinical psychologists per 10 000 population nationally is 0.7
(4)(a) and (b) No.
The National Department of Health has embarked on a process to develop work force staffing norms to ensure equitable distribution of human resources for health. The World Health Organisation Workload Indicators of Staffing Need (WISN) tool has been adopted and is currently being used to determine all the categories of human resources that we need. A report will be available once this work has been completed.
Statement issued by Dr Heinrich Volmink MP, DA Shadow Deputy Minister of Health, November 4 2014
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