4 minute read
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
4
Advertisement
This report illustrates trends in the number of healthcare service professional providers (HSPPs) registered on the Practice Code Numbering System (PCNS). It also shows trends in the distribution of HSPPs by population. These trends include the number of active providers, the movement of providers and their demographic profiles. It is important for managing human resources for health (HRH) to monitor the latter and how these change over time.
A descriptive cross-section analysis of HSPPs on the PCNS was used in analysing the data. The study included HSPPs from four different countries on the PCNS from 2019 to 2020, namely South Africa, Namibia, Zimbabwe, and Lesotho.
The number of family practitioners (FPs) increased across the four countries; similarly the number of FPs per 100 000 population increased, though at a lower rate. Lesotho and Namibia had increases of more than 5%, while South Africa and Zimbabwe had increases of below 3%. With regard to demographic profiles, most FPs were male (over 60%). The average age of FPs with active PCNS numbers increased in all countries except Lesotho. The average age was lowest in Zimbabwe (40.9 years in 2020) while it was 50.6 years in South Africa.
The movement of FPs was also analysed in terms of absolute numbers and demographic profiles. Generally, FPs registering on the PCNS had lower average ages, ranging from 34.7 years in South Africa to 40.7 years in Lesotho. The average age of FPs de-registering was higher; it was 50.1 years in South Africa and 49.1 years in Namibia. It would be preferable to have these average ages closer to retirement ages.
Similar trends were observed for other primary care HSPPs, dentists and supplementary and allied healthcare professionals (SAHPs). There were some slight variations, e.g. the number of dentists is much lower than that of FPs. As expected, there are also many more SAHPs.
The number of medical specialists with active PCNS numbers increased across all four countries, with South Africa recording a 1.8% increase while Namibia had 10.2% increase from 2019 to 2020. In terms of changes in number of medical specialists per 100 000 population, Zimbabwe had the highest growth of 9.9%, followed by Lesotho at 8.9%. South Africa had the lowest growth at 0.3%. In 2020, South Africa had the highest number of specialists at 80.12 per 100 000 population; it was lowest in Lesotho at 5.13 per 100 000 population.
In terms of movement of medical specialists, South Africa had the highest number of registrations - 98 in 2020. New registrations were 40% lower in 2020 for South Africa; similar observations were made in the other three countries. The number of de-registrations among medical specialists increased by 350% in South Africa and 267% in Namibia.
Copyright 2022 © Board of Healthcare Funders
5
The average age of medical specialists with active practice numbers increased slightly across all the countries. Zimbabwe had the lowest average age of 39.7 years in 2020, while South Africa had the highest at 52 years. Zimbabwe had the highest average age of registering medical specialists at 39.6 years; it was 37.2 years in South Africa. The average age of de-registering medical specialists was 57.6 years in South Africa and 53.3 years in Namibia.
This points to a significant movement of medical specialists. Of concern is the reduction in the number of registering medical specialists and the increasing number of de-registrations. Age profile also suggests significant movement of younger medical specialists.
Generally, trends among surgical specialists are very similar to those of medical specialists. The number of surgical specialists is comparable to the number of medical specialists. Their demographic profiles are also similar, as well as their movements from 2019 to 2020. Anaesthetists and dental specialists have significantly lower numbers than medical and surgical specialists (60% lower). Their demographic profiles and the movements are similar to those of medical specialists.
In respect of pathology and radiology, there was growth in the number of HSPPs across all countries from 2019 to 2020. These numbers of HSPPs increased even on a per 100 000 population basis. Both Namibia and South Africa experienced increases from 2019 to 2020. In these two disciplines, Namibia had fewer new registrations in 2020 than in 2019 while South Africa had more de-registrations in 2020 than in 2019.
Annexure 1 lists the disciplines and how these have been classified for the purposes of this report. The detailed results at discipline level may be found on the BHF Live portal. The link to this portal is https://www.bhfportal.co.za/bhfglobal/
Copyright 2022 © Board of Healthcare Funders
