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SAMA fights - and wins - on behalf of its members 

The South African Medical Association (SAMA) prides itself on providing professional services to its members. These services include labour advice and assistance. Through its Employee Relations Department, SAMA diligently advises, assists, and represents members on issues relating to their employer-employee relationships.

SAMA was recently involved in a legal action where it represented five of its members at the Labour Court in a matter against the Department of Health. This matter related to the non-payment of the Rural Allowance to a group of five doctors. SAMA initiated the legal action to ensure that hundreds of thousands of Rands owed to these members were paid.

SAMA’s involvement in the matter saw the Labour Court ruling in favour of the five doctors, and it also ordered the Department of Health to pay legal costs.

In another matter, the Labour Court in Gqeberha ordered the re-instatement, and retrospective payment, for a member also being represented by SAMA.

In a third matter, the Labour Appeals Court ordered in favour of SAMA who was acting on behalf of a member who had been dismissed eight years ago. The Court ordered that the member be re-instated, and that he be paid, for all the years that he was unemployed.

These three examples again demonstrate that SAMA remains committed to fighting labour and legal battles on behalf of its members. Members are invited to contact SAMA on labour@samedical.org should they require assistance. 

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FPD SCHOOL OF PUBLIC HEALTH COURSES

Fully Sponsored course: How to Set Up an Ideal COVID-19 Vaccination Centre

Fully sponsored by Right to Care / USAID.
Course link:   https://portal.foundation.co.za/Course/Details/1178
Video Link:    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lU6M1ofm5fs

Dear Colleagues

As South Africa enters Adjusted Alert Level 4 lockdown, the country is nowhere near the peak of the third COVID-19 wave with the situation in Gauteng being particularly tough. The sheer numbers of people being infected with the virus are simply overwhelming and are currently adding to the already challenging exhaustion level of our medical staff, both in the public and private sectors.

Burnout and general mental health remain one of our biggest challenges throughout. SAMA is in the process of partnering with some of our stakeholder organisations in providing some measure of support. Even if it is just to be able to talk to a professional when requiring some assistance in dealing with personal challenges and obtaining some coping tools to deal with the onslaught we are dealing with currently. We are looking at introducing this service to our members and medical professionals in general, within the next few days.

I am currently being overwhelmed with enquiries from colleagues and the public in regard to the false information about vaccines being spread on social media. Anyone who creates or spreads fake news about COVID-19 is liable for prosecution. For this reason, I want to urge all our members to please verify information before you share it. Currently the vaccination rollout is our only way to ensure positive outcomes and a way to deal with the pandemic.

While we are all dealing with the third wave, I just need to also remind all that the POPI Act will be implemented as from 1 July. This will have a significant impact on how we deal with information and we need to ensure compliance or face imminent fines. The registration of Information Officers has however received an extension. Something that has slipped through the cracks, maybe because it is not perceived as having a direct influence on our profession, is the implementation of the AARTO Demerit Point System. This is also scheduled to be implemented on 1 July.

Basically, for each offence, a driver will be allocated between one and six points – depending on the seriousness of the offence. A person who collects more than 15 points will have his or her driver’s license suspended for up to three months and may need to go through the whole learner driver testing again. We will need to see how this will influence our practices; it may require a relook at HR policies and insurance.

Confirmation was received from the Department of Health that there is no funding available for the midyear Intern placements. In terms of the Health Professions Act, the DoH has a duty to enrol eligible applicants in their positions for Internship. This matter is currently being investigated by our SAMA Legal Department and possible legal action on behalf of our members is being considered.

In conclusion, some good news. Following intervention from SAMA, MPC is currently integrating the CPD Management platform with the HPCSA system. This will enable seamless updates of CPD portfolios between healthcare practitioners and the HPCSA system. We are proactively monitoring the process to ensure it is complete as soon as possible without interruption. Our members can therefore look forward to less time spent trying to upload certificates, and have the peace of mind that attendance to CPD events will automatically reflect against their MP number with points being allocated accordingly.

Thank you for all your efforts and for the work you are doing during these trying times.

Be safe.
Yours in Solidarity

Dr Angelique Coetzee
SAMA: Chairperson

SAMA to launch legal action if interns are not placed

The South African Medical Association (SAMA) has given the Department of Health, the Acting Minister of Health, and the Health Professions Council of South Africa (HPCSA) until Friday, 9 July, to ensure the placement of 288 medical interns failing which legal action against them will be initiated.  

The demand to have the 288 medical interns placed stems from the ongoing failure by the DoH, the Acting Minister, and the HPCSA to ensure the interns, who graduated in March and April, are placed at public healthcare institutions to complete their compulsory community service. Only once this internship is completed, can medical interns register as medical practitioners.  

All of the 288 interns fulfill the necessary criteria and are eligible for placement.  

“We have exhausted every possible avenue to get this resolved and we must now, unfortunately, turn to the courts for relief for these 288 interns because their futures hang in the balance. The failure of the DoH, the Acting Minister and the HPCSA to release allocations, and provide funding for these posts, is a violation of their legal obligations,” says Dr Angelique Coetzee, Chairperson of SAMA.  

Dr Coetzee says by failing to place the medical interns, the department, the Acting Minister and the HPCSA are in contravention of Section 22 of the Constitution and of the Health Professions Act which determine that all these role-players have a statutory obligation to ensure placement of interns to complete their community service which will enable them to register as healthcare professionals in South Africa.  

“At the beginning of June, the Department of Health undertook to release allocations before 1 July but this has not happened. In the meantime, hospitals are unable to accept new patients because there are no available beds, and doctors who are currently working are facing mental and physical burnout from working extraordinarily long hours. We have to take up the cause for these interns because their placement is in the best interests of everybody, including patients,” notes Dr Coetzee.  

In legal papers served on the Department of Health, the Acting Minister of Health, and the HPCSA on Friday, 2 July, SAMA demanded the immediate allocation of medical interns and a written undertaking that the 288 interns will not be penalized or disadvantaged by the delays in placing them.  

We have been left with no alternatives. For the sake of these interns, and for those who will be following them in the months ahead, we need to resolve these issues once and for all. We cannot abide by a situation where our country desperately needs healthcare professionals but where the government does not place those who are qualified to help,” concludes Dr Coetzee.  

[ENDS]

SAMA intervention leads to positive outcome for medical interns

The South African Medical Association (SAMA) has, for the moment, suspended its legal action against the Department of Health, the Acting Minister of Health, and the Health Professions Council of South Africa (HPCSA) following confirmation received this afternoon that 155 medical interns have finally been placed. The interns will be notified tonight of their successful placements.

The confirmation came after a week of threats of legal action and behind the scenes negotiations by SAMA to place 288 interns who graduated in March and April at public heallthcare institutions to complete their compulsory community service. The demand to have the 288 medical interns placed stems from the ongoing failure by the DoH, the Acting Minister, and the HPCSA to ensure the interns are placed. Since last week, 133 of the 288 interns have been placed, and confirmation was received this afternoon that the other 155 would all be placed by next Monday, 12 July.

“We are naturally happy that the pressure we exerted on the relevant role-players has resulted in this positive outcome. But we will be monitoring this process extremely closely at a provincial level as it’s the provinces who now need to sign employment contracts with the interns by Monday at the latest, so they can start working on Monday. If the provinces don’t have these contracts signed by Monday we will, of course, proceed with our planned legal action,” says Dr Angelique Coetzee, Chairperson of SAMA.

Dr Coetzee has urged all interns who have not signed their contracts by Monday to contact SAMA to ensure the issue is raised at a national level. Dr Coetzee says the interns must be praised for their patience during this difficult time, especially as their non-placement was jeopardizing their futures. “We want to thank each intern affected by this because the hard work they put in over the years was being ignored.

SAMA understands the incredibly arduous journey medical students face and to be confronted by such a massive problem at the start of their careers is disheartening. We want to assure these interns that SAMA is always going to be there for them, as we have been throughout this sorry saga,” notes Dr Coetzee.

Last week SAMA noted that by failing to place the medical interns, the department, the Acting Minister and the HPCSA are in contravention of Section 22 of the Constitution and of the Health Professions Act which determine that all these role-players have a statutory obligation to ensure placement of interns to complete their community service which will enable them to register as healthcare professionals in South Africa.

In legal papers served on the Department of Health, the Acting Minister of Health, and the HPCSA on Friday, 2 July, SAMA demanded the immediate allocation of medical interns and a written undertaking that the 288 interns will not be penalized or disadvantaged by the delays in placing them.

SAMA has also been informed that in addition to the placement of the 155 interns, 44 Cuban interns have also been placed: 34 for immediate placement, and ten for placement during the October placements.

[ENDS]

The South African Medical Association (SAMA) takes great pleasure in adding our wholehearted and unreserved support for the South African Academy of Family Medicine’s (SAAFP) bid to host the World Conference on Family Doctors in 2025 – WONCA 2025. As the leading medical association in South Africa representing both private and public doctors in South Africa, we recognize the important role that primary care providers play in the forefront of healthcare especially during these difficult times.

South Africa has embarked on the journey to realize Universal Health Access for all and SAMA supports such initiatives and recognizes the important role of primary health care in shaping the health landscape in Africa. The SAAFP, a society affiliated to SAMA, has an excellent track record of holding national health conferences and has successfully hosted the WONCA world conference in 2001. The SAAFP has had a major influence in positively impacting on the training of family doctors in Africa through its support for WONCA Africa, Primafammed, Afrehealth, Afriwon and other such organisations.

 South Africa as a conference destination is perfect to cater for the diverse needs of participants who may want to allocate extra time to their visit to enjoy our beautiful country which often has a lasting impact on all of those who visit. We also support this bid because we know that hosting such a prestigious event in South Africa has special significance for the people of the country who are proud that their nation is show cased through an international gathering of this nature.

We trust that WONCA will support the South African bid and we look forward to this important conference that will happen at an important time in our history.

Yours sincerely,

Dr Angelique Coetzee
Chairperson: The South African Medical Association

Lambda variant not detected in SA yet - health experts

The new Covid-19 Lambda variant which has been circulating in several countries around the world has not yet been detected in South Africa according to leading health experts.

In a presentation delivered to the National Coronavirus Control Council (NCCC) on Tuesday, Professor Tulio de Oliveira and Dr Richard Lessell from the Network for Genomic Surveillance South Africa (NGS-SA) said that while the variant has been detected in one African country, it has not reached SA’s shores yet.

South Africa will now offer Covid-19 vaccines to some people under 50 – what you should know

The Department of Health says it will offer Covid-19 vaccines to some South Africans even if they don’t meet the current criteria of being aged 50 years or older.

In a circular published this week, the department said the following individuals and groups will be considered eligible for vaccination outside of the vaccine roll-out eligibility criteria:

Ministers, deputy ministers, premiers and MECs, as well their direct staff.

South Africa’s deadly Delta wave

The number of Covid-related deaths in South Africa continues to rise – above 400 for each of the past three days, while excess deaths in the country climbed to their highest level since January.

On Wednesday (7 July), The National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD), a division of the National Health Laboratory Service, reported 21,427 new Covid-19 cases in South Africa, taking the total number of laboratory-confirmed cases to 2,112,336. This increase represents a 30.3% positivity rate.

Surging death toll fails to convince vaccine-wary South Africans

One of the world’s fastest pace of deaths from Covid-19 infections hasn’t been able to trounce widespread hesitancy over vaccines in South Africa.

Deaths from the virus in the country rose 72% week-on-week as of Monday, according to data compiled by Bloomberg, the fifth-fastest worldwide and behind only Zimbabwe on the continent. Yet a lack of communication coupled with anti-vaccine propaganda may be responsible for daily doses languishing almost 50% below President Cyril Ramaphosa’s target, health experts have warned.

Hunger and depression in the pandemic: Why government must target food security to improve South Africa’s mental health

The origins of mental health problems are something that society tends to situate squarely within the individual. Whether you are happy or sad or somewhere in between tends to be presented — in much of psychology and the popular imagination — as determined by internal forces. Genes, developmental history, neurochemicals gone awry: internal, individual-level explanations for human well-being dominate our attributions about, and responses to, mental health problems.

Water, power cuts and neglect are taking their toll on South Africa’s top hospitals

A fire at one of the biggest public hospitals in Johannesburg, the Charlotte Maxeke Johannesburg Academic Hospital, and the delay in reopening the facility has brought infrastructural issues into sharp focus. The fire broke out in mid-April. Only now is a phased re-opening of the hospital being undertaken.

Reopening was delayed due to fire safety issues. A host of compliance measures weren’t in place.

The South African Medical Association - Postal Address-The South African Medical Association P O Box 74789,Lynnwood Ridge Pretoria 0040, South Africa
Physical address The South African Medical Association, Block F Castle Walk Corporate Park Nossob Street Erasmuskloof Ext3 Pretoria 0181, South Africa www.samedical.org

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