Medics' exodus hits hospital

The resignation of 12 specialist anaesthetists at Charlotte Maxeke Johannesburg Academic Hospital will halve the number of surgical operations at one of the country's biggest hospitals.

In only one month, 12 anaesthetists resigned and two say they will quit by July - this will leave the hospital with only 12 of the 28 it needs.

Six of the anaesthetists have already found work in private practice.

Health department spokesman Chris Maxon yesterday again denied that there was a crisis at the hospital.

The anaesthetists are angry because the health department has cancelled an agreement that allowed anaesthetists to work one day a week in private practice to supplement their income. Private work offers at least three times more pay.

The department has said the doctors did not work the agreed 40 hours a week at the government hospital.

But the specialists say they worked at least 10 hours a day and put in overtime at night and at weekends.

Five of the anaesthetists together handed in their resignations on Tuesday last week.

One of the doctors said she was tired of being labelled a "thief and criminal" by senior management and claimed she always worked a minimum of 40 hours a week.

The final straw for the doctors was being insulted by a senior hospital official who shouted at them in public that they were criminals for resigning.

Another senior doctor at the hospital said the resignations would have severe consequences for the operating schedule.

"From June we will have to cancel major surgeries [every] day because of the lack of specialist anaesthetists.

"Supervision of registrars and doctors at night will suffer because the number of specialists to cover them will not be enough to have a specialist on call every night - and overtime has been cut for specialists," said a senior doctor.

The overtime issue has spilled over to specialist theatre nurses, who are refusing to work extra overtime.

Night emergency operations are already being reduced because of the shortage of these nurses.

They had their overtime pay capped at 30% of their normal-rate pay and are now working only the hours they are paid for.

This has meant that, instead of three operating theatres being available at night for emergencies, the hospital now has only two that can be manned at night.

The SA Medical Association has asked lawyers to find out why overtime pay for specialists was cut from April, resulting in their earning R8000 less.

A doctor, who complained that specialists were not at the hospital often enough, said: "They will resign. So will others. The private sector cannot absorb them all.

"They will have to work harder to earn the same amount and be held more accountable. Many will return much the wiser.

"You can be secure in the knowledge that, though many will resign, many of us will stay and be happy."

The health department said it would use registrars to fill vacated posts as soon as they qualified.