sector skills plan for the health sector in south africa

In 2010, 460 000 people are employed in the health sector, of whom 179 000 (39%) are employed in
private health and 281 000 (61%) in public health departments. Most of the people in the sector are
black women and almost half of employees are employed as professionals – e.g. medical and dental
specialists and practitioners, registered nurses, pharmacists and other health related occupations such
as occupational therapists and psychologists. Medical practitioners and specialists in private health are
generally older than their counterparts working in public health.
Community and personal service workers such as enrolled nurses, auxiliary nurses and hospital workers,
emergency services and ambulance workers constitute a substantial proportion of employees in the
sector, especially on the public health side.
A unique feature of the health sector is that the majority of the healthcare professionals, subprofessionals
and specialised workers are regulated by a number of professional councils that play a
formative role in determining their scope of practice as well as the education and training standards
required for work as healthcare practitioners. By controlling and enforcing standards of quality, ethical
conduct and CPD, these councils promote the rendering of quality health services to the broader public.
Thus, the professional councils, together with the organised voluntary professional associations,
perform important functions in the health sector labour market and are involved in the HWSETA’s skills
development initiatives.
Increasingly, non-profit organisations and NGOs play an essential part in the delivery of healthcare to
disadvantaged and marginalised communities, even though they fall outside the sector’s formal
structures and require special attention in the SSP.
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