Three-quarters of doctors in SA say load-shedding is affecting their mental health as continued power cuts threaten patient safety and push up the costs of running a business, finds a new survey by the Medical Protection Society (MPS).
The MPS, which provides medical indemnity cover, surveyed 660 healthcare professionals in SA about the impact of the government’s rolling blackouts, which periodically see homes and businesses without electricity for up to 10 hours a day.
State-owned utility Eskom is unable to provide reliable electricity supply from its ageing coal-powered fleet and has imposed rolling blackouts to avoid a total collapse of the grid. While some of SA’s hospitals are exempted from load-shedding up to stage 6 the majority of SA’s health facilities in both the public and private sector have to contend with regular power cuts.
The survey paints a picture of doctors taking strain both in and out of work as power cuts disable vital equipment required for patient safety and their own personal security.
Among the respondents, 86% said load-shedding posed a significant threat to patient safety and 63% said it had serious financial implications at their place of work.
Doctors raised concerns about delayed tests, surgeries and prescriptions, and treating patients in the dark when inverters or generators failed, said the MPS. Some respondents said they felt extremely vulnerable as their alarm systems and electronic safety gates fail during power outages, it said.
Nearly 80% of respondents believed the government could do more to protect healthcare facilities from load-shedding, and among the doctors who said they were considering emigrating, 90% said load-shedding was one of the push factors. Four out of five doctors considering early retirement cited load-shedding as a factor influencing their decision.
MPS has 300,000 members worldwide, 10% of which are in SA. It said the government should do more to buffer the health system from power cuts so doctors could focus on treating their patients.
“The effect of not being able to provide safe patient care on a doctor’s mental wellbeing cannot be overstated. When patient safety is at risk, doctors also feel vulnerable to complaints, regulatory investigations, claims in clinical negligence and even criminal charges,” said MPS medicolegal consultant Volker Hitzeroth.
“This pressure, in addition to the financial burden placed on healthcare facilities to function sufficiently during power outages, is clearly taking its toll and may be tipping the balance for those who are already struggling to cope due to many other challenges doctors face daily,” he said.
The MPS released anonymised comments from some survey respondents, with one describing how load-shedding in the area disabled telecommunications and water supplies. “(We) can’t flush toilets, wash equipment, wash hands. At times there is no signal. I had to spend a huge amount on a generator, then inverter, backup water tank and water pump working on solar during a gastro epidemic just to be able to breathe,” they said.
Another doctor who participated in the survey said: “This is a national disaster that is crippling a broken economy. Patients are rebooked every day.”
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