On
Special Assignment tonight:
Episode Title: Doctors Crisis
Broadcast date: Tuesday, 30 June 2009
The crisis involving doctors working in public hospitals and clinics - and the government, has dominated the headlines over the last few months. The protracted negotiations over pay, and the implementation of the Occupation-Specific Dispensation (OSD) appears to have reached a stalemate: with neither side appearing ready to budge on their demands.
On one hand, doctors are bound by the Hippocratic Oath to serve patients under all circumstances, and are defined in a specific employment category that precludes them from striking unprotected.
On the other hand, doctors in the public healthcare system complain of working in under-resourced, poorly-staffed hospitals and clinics: for a pittance that barely allows them to survive from month to month. Junior doctors in the public sector reportedly earn R 7,000.00 after tax.
Then there is the OSD; the main objective of which is to recognize appropriate experience, competence and performance - and compensate the worker accordingly. But the issue goes beyond wages. It is one of working in a highly-pressured environment, with scant resources and little ‘off time.’ Doctors say that unless these conditions are addressed and improved, it makes little difference whether they get a minimal pay increase or not.
Special Assignment visits hospitals in remote areas of South Africa, to examine first hand what it means to be a doctor in the public sector. The show looks at the lives of these doctors, compared to those in the private sector.
The show also spends time - days and nights - with dedicated and motivated doctors who, despite their adverse working conditions, still love their jobs, and are committed to their patients.
Also, a look at the daily trials of being a patient in the public health system: where unless you have money, you have to jostle for treatment and care: sometimes with not even a guarantee that you will eventually be attended to.
The programme is produced by Busisiwe Ntuli.
Special Assignment is on SABC3 on Tuesdays at 20h31.