RFM Intern Doctors say: We work over 144 hours as overtime for free

By Thokozani Mazibuko

Patients who visit the Raleigh Fitkin Memorial (RFM) Hospital to seek medical attention on weekends and during the night will be on their own.

This follows intern doctors at the hospital resolving to provide on-call services to patients on an optional basis following their unpaid on-call and standby allowances.

It is worth noting that intern doctors were the ones who were now responsible for taking care of patients on weekends and during the night at the hospital without the supervision of a qualified medical doctor after doctors at the hospital also boycotted working extra hours due to unpaid on-call and standby allowances. 

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What demotivated the doctors even more, to a point that they have since resolved to boycott working extra hours was that the hospital had to cut their on-call and standby allowances by almost 50 per cent due to lack of funds.

According to the interns, at a meeting held on Friday (June 21, 2024), they resolved to begin doing on-calls on an optional basis as per their employment contract. 

The interns stated that this was due to several reasons which include amongst others that they solely shouldered the entire responsibility of the call, yet they were inexperienced interns with the supervisors who were completely unreachable even for a mere over-the-phone guidance.

“Initially we were made to understand that the calls were purely for educational purposes which hasn’t been the case since the beginning of the internship as we are essentially alone during the calls,” stated the interns.

According to the interns, as it stands, they must make life-and-death decisions on the spot without any cover should things go awry.

“Furthermore, there is no compensation for the voluntary calls, therefore as interns, we have to choose when and how we do calls without the directive of the supervisor,” said the interns. 

As a result, the interns pointed out that with effect from July 1, 2024, they (interns)  will not be allocated call days on the on-call hospital rooster, since they will now, choose when and how they will present themselves to the hospital for after-hours and on weekend work for educational purposes since they are not compensated for calls as per their employment contract.

“We are grateful for your cooperation in this regard,” said the interns.
RFM Chief Executive Officer Mazwi Mavuso when reached for comment, pointed out that such grievances have not yet reached their attention as management, whether verbal or in writing. 

He further clarified that interns’ doctors’ salaries were not paid by the hospital but on the contrary, the intern doctors were receiving a monthly stipend from Taiwan through the government. 

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When the interns were probed on whether it was true that they were receiving stipends from Taiwan, they confirmed that such was true.
However, they said the stipends that they were receiving were for normal working hours and they did not cater for overtime.

They pointed out that they work for about 144 hours per month for free in respect of overtime.

Meanwhile, a memorandum was issued by the Ministry of Health early this year, informing the doctors about the delay in the payment of their on-call and standby allowances, which, it was said, would be released in January 2024.

The doctors did not accept the contents of the communication and wrote to the principal secretary (PS), in the Ministry of Health, Khanya Mabuza, informing him of the same. They further demanded that the allowances be paid with their December salaries, which prompted the ministry to speed up the payment process.

Information gathered was that the claim forms for the on-call and standby allowances were stuck in the Ministry of Public Service, hence the delay.