# South African healthcare workers say they are emigrating because of the NHI

- Link: https://dearsouthafrica.co.za/2019/10/31/south-african-healthcare-workers-say-they-are-emigrating-because-of-the-nhi/
- Published: 2019-10-31T11:06:13+02:00
- Author: dearSA

![](https://cdn.dearsouthafrica.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/20191226/Screenshot-
2019-10-31T110408.569.png "Screenshot - 2019-10-31T110408.569")

Trade Union Solidarity has released a new report on the incoming National Health
Insurance (NHI) and its impact on the healthcare industry.

Nicolien Welthagen, a research psychologist at the Solidarity Research Institute,
said that the report is based on questionnaires sent to healthcare practitioners
in the private as well as the public sector across the country.

The general feedback shows that healthcare practitioners have huge concerns about
the proposed NHI.

“The findings indicate that there is distrust towards the government regarding the
way they want to implement and manage the NHI. 80% of respondents are negative or
sceptical about the NHI,” said Welthagen.

“According to the results of this report, the respondents do not believe that the
NHI will succeed in improving the healthcare system and service delivery.

“Only 15% of respondents believe that it would be possible to successfully implement
the NHI, and 84.5% are of the view that the implementation of the NHI could destabilise
the healthcare system in South Africa and could harm the high-quality service already
being provided by the private sector,” she said.

Welthagen added that the report further highlights the enormous risk that the emigration
of health practitioners poses to the future of healthcare in South Africa.

“There are serious concerns about a shortage of healthcare workers, the more so 
in view of the fact that 20.8% of the respondents indicated that they had already
taken steps to emigrate, and a further 41.06% would consider emigrating when the
NHI is implemented,” Welthagen said.

Emigration

In an August interview, Dr Chris Archer, CEO of the South African Private Practitioners
Forum, said that his members are extremely concerned and that the bill may drive
emigration as “those who want to leave see it as a reason to do so”.

Profmed medical aid CEO Craig Comrie said that health professionals are already 
emigrating.

Comrie said Profmed’s members are mainly health professionals, of whom 17% leave
each year. This rose to 30% in June and July.

Alex van den Heever, Wits School of Governance professor, added that he expects 
medical professionals to emigrate in their hundreds, joining their countrymen in
countries like Dubai and Australia.

Doctor shortage

South Africa is also currently facing a doctor and nurse shortage due to a lack 
of funding, says health minister Dr Zweli Mkhize.

Responding in a recent parliamentary Q&A session, Mkhize said that the primary reason
for this shortage is that the public health sector budget has not increased in real
terms for the past 10 years.

This has impacted the number of staff that can be appointed, he said.

Mkhize added that the demand for health services in the country is increasing while
there is no additional funding to address the change, which results primarily from
immigration into the country and the increasing burden of disease.

“The shortage of health professionals is a global phenomenon and is more pronounced
in low and middle-income countries as health workers are more likely to migrate 
to upper-middle-income countries in search of better living and working conditions,”
he said.

[Article](https://businesstech.co.za/news/business/350061/south-african-healthcare-workers-say-they-are-emigrating-because-of-the-nhi/)
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