E Cape to track down wandering doctors

E Cape to track down wandering doctors
February 25 2010 at 05:36PM

The Eastern Cape health department says it is to track down hundreds of
health professionals who owe it service after having their studies paid
for by the province.

They would have to either work out the balance of their obligation to
the province, or refund the department, spokesman Sizwe Kupelo said on
Thursday.

"They are where they are today because of taxpayers' money, so they must
come and assist the poor," he said. "This is no empty threat."

He said that for more than a decade, the department had provided
bursaries and other financial support for would-be health professionals.

The deal was that they would come back to work in the province for the
same period they had spent in tertiary institutions.

However hundreds of doctors, pharmacists, nurses and other professionals
had not served their time.

Instead they had taken up other jobs, often in other provinces.

In a project dubbed Operation Siyamlanda, the department had already
identified 556 doctors and other professionals who had defaulted since 2003.

It was reviewing older records as well, Kupelo said.

"We will call on them to return and serve the Eastern Cape for the
remainder of the years as per the contract they have signed," he said.

"If they are not willing, the department will have no option but to
claim the money back from the individual. With interest."

This money would be spent on people who were prepared to stay in the
province.

"We are doing this to ensure that the people of the province benefit
from our investment.

"The shortages of professional staff in our hospitals is going to be
addressed in this way."

Kupelo said the ultimatum would be put to all defaulters, whether they
were in private practice or working for government.

He said there had been no problems with the batches of students that the
department had sent for medical training in Cuba.

The first of those students had qualified three years ago.

They had been recruited from rural areas, and the deal was that they
would return to those areas to practice their new skills.

He said that over the past five years the department had spent R294
million on bursaries.

This amount excluded millions paid as allowances to nurses in training.
- Sapa

News - Health: E Cape to track down wandering doctors (25 February 2010)
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