Medical interns now paid outstanding salaries: Gauteng health department

Fifty-three junior doctors doing medical internships at Gauteng state hospitals have been paid their outstanding salaries for January and February.

The provincial health department said the payment process for three more interns is still under way.

The payment snafu came about because more interns were sent to the province than had been budgeted for, said the department.

“The GDoH [Gauteng department of health] has 429 medical interns positions that are funded annually. However, the national department of health [NDoH] has historically allocated interns in excess of the baseline allocated budget that GDoH has.

“For 2022 there were an additional 203 interns that were allocated by NDoH to the province. This has meant that GDoH has had to first confirm additional full funding for any excess interns allocated to the province beyond the available baseline of GDoH-funded posts. This unfortunately resulted in delays in payments to some of the interns.”

The department regretted the delays and said it is taking steps to ensure better planning.

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