The health minister wants provincial departments to prioritise filling vacant hospital CEO posts.
The Minister of Health has asked the provincial departments to prioritise filling vacant public hospital CEO posts across the country. He was responding to parliamentary questions from DA MP Haseena Ismail.
Ismail enquired about the percentage of vacant posts in state hospitals in each province and the number of CEOs that are still in an acting capacity. In his written response, Mkhize said there were 13 percent vacant posts in public hospitals across the country as of February.
The response indicated that the Free State has the highest vacancy rate in public hospitals at 21 percent, followed by Western Cape at 15 percent and KwaZulu-Natal and North West at 14 percent each.
The vacancy rate in the Eastern Cape stood at 13 percent, Mpumalanga at 12 percent and Limpopo at seven percent. The minister added that there were 64 acting CEOs in public hospitals.
Mkhize said, “The national Department of Health acknowledges the reported number of acting chief executive officers as high. As a result, the director-general has written letters to the provincial heads of health departments to prioritise the appointment of experienced eligible candidates permanently to the positions of CEOs at their earliest convenience to ensure stability and service delivery continuity in the affected hospitals.”
