Retention challenges of medical specialists and medical officers in the KwaZulu-Natal, Department of Health: the case of Inkosi Albert Luthuli Central Hospital.

Abstract

In the Department of Health, the roles of medical specialists and medical officers are crucial in delivering of healthcare services. The Department needs to employ and retain these employees to fulfill the mission of providing the communities with quality health care. This study, therefore, investigates the retention challenges of medical specialists and medical officers in the KwaZulu-Natal Department of Health. The study used the case study of Inkosi Albert Luthuli Central Hospital. A qualitative research design was employed in this study. A non-probability sampling was chosen, where open-ended questionnaires were designed for three categories of participants: medical supervisors, medical specialists and medical officers, and human resource practitioners. Each of these categories had a separate questionnaire. Fifty (50) questionnaires were distributed, but only 30 responses were received from the participants. The questionnaires aimed to find out if there were retention challenges and any strategies in place to resolve these challenges. The results of the study showed that there are retention challenges and a shortage of medical employees in the Department of Health. Some of the reasons for these shortages are economic and human resources challenges. This has a negative impact on service delivery as the current employees are overworked and the quality of care is compromised. Although there are strategies in place to retain medical employees as implemented by the Department of Health, the study showed that these strategies are not effective in retaining medical employees in the Department. Therefore, to address this, the study recommends that the management must review the current strategies and that salary reviews are crucial as most employees opt to work in the private sector.