A Buffalo City Metro (BCM) report states the metro should have 75 environmental health practitioners (EHP) according to the national norm – 1:10000 people – but the metro only has 28.
This was listed as one of the challenges in the health and safety directorate on the report that tabled the metro’s achievements, challenges and strategic priorities interventions for the next five years.
Metro spokesman Thandy Matebese said as a result of the shortage, a large number of inspections were only carried out quarterly whereas the inspections should be carried out monthly.
Some of the duties carried out by EHPs in the metro include routine or unplanned visits and inspections at schools, businesses and food outlets to ensure compliance with health and safety legislation and taking action to improve the conditions.
They also carry out food hygiene and food standards inspections; investigate outbreaks of infectious disease and prevente it spreading any further, and take water samples to maintain and improve standards in public swimming and bathing areas as well as private water supplies.
Explaining why there was a shortage of EHPs, Matebese said up until 2013, environmental health services was a joint effort between BCM, the provincial health department and Amathole District Municipality (ADM).
“When BCM assumed the function for the entire area of jurisdiction in 2013 only 10 health practitioners were transferred to BCM from the province and none from ADM. This immediately resulted in a large shortage of practitioners as the two authorities were primarily responsible for the majority of the rural areas as well as the R293 townships,” said Matebese.
The portfolio head for public safety councillor Helen Neale-May said: “We need more practitioners but at the moment budget is tight.”
Neale-May said a health practitioner was not only qualified at graduate level but must also have completed a period of compulsory practical training in the environmental health profession.
The plan was to to approach the MEC of health to propose undergraduates be outsource for their compulsory practical training to fill the gap.
“Even with a tight budget we need to create a way of servicing the community,” Neale-May said.
Despite the shortage she said the EHPs in the metro have worked around the shortage and were making a significant contributions to providing a healthy city.
“Under the circumstances the practitioners in the metro are working hard to provide a healthy city.
“They are currently cleaning up the East London CBD by removing the illegal meat sellers,” she said.
Matebese said provision had been made on the organisational structure for the appointment of additional EHPs.
The proposed remedial action listed on the report stated more of the budget needed to be made available over the next Medium Term Revenue and Expenditure Framework (MTREF) to appoint additional EHPs.