Health and Wellness
(a) What is the current nursing vacancy rate in each district of the province, (b) what steps is her Department taking to address the current nursing vacancy rate in the province and (c) how does her Department plan to fast track the replacement process for nursing staff who (i) retire, (ii) transfer, (iii) or leave employment, to ensure uninterrupted healthcare services across the province?
- Metro: 8.9%
Cape Winelands: 7.99%
Central Karoo: 8.91%
Garden Route: 7.63%
Overberg: 17.94%
West Coast: 11.11%
- The Western Cape Department of Health and Wellness (WCDHW) prioritises the filling of posts on the service platform, i.e. health professionals including nursing posts, with a lesser focus on corporate and support posts. In this way the WCDHW ensures continuity in health service delivery.
- The WCDHW has excluded Occupation Specific Dispensation (OSD) positions from its cost containment measures to help retain healthcare professionals. By exempting most nurses from lengthy approval processes, these posts can be filled more swiftly, thus reducing workload pressures and mitigating burnout. Further support is provided through benefits such as rural allowances and commuted overtime, which reward and encourage staff to remain in the public healthcare sector.
To attract new talent, the WCDHW prioritises the filling of health professional vacancies through streamlined recruitment. Benefits offered under the OSD framework, together with the potential for career development in the public health system, serve to draw qualified professionals to these positions.
