43% of younger South African healthcare professionals consider leaving the profession as a result of work-related stress

Now in its fifth year, the Future Health Index 2020 report is the first large-scale survey of its kind based on responses from almost 3,000 younger healthcare professionals across 15 countries – and in South Africa specifically around 200 - which reveals critical insights from this new generation that will comprise most of the healthcare workforce over the next 20 years.

Across the 15 countries surveyed, younger healthcare professionals juggle immense responsibility with long working hours, leading to stress and potential burnout - but the report shows younger South African healthcare professionals feel this acutely. 82% reported regularly experiencing work-related stress, while 43% considered leaving the profession as a result of work-related stress; 9% points higher than the average of the 15 countries surveyed (34%).

se their workloads and work-related stress.

Therefore, improved technology may be one way to retain their talent and expertise, as most younger healthcare professionals in South Africa (72%) are excited about the future of their profession due to technology. 57% of younger South African healthcare professionals believe that being at the forefront of artificial intelligence (AI) in healthcare is important when choosing a hospital or practice in which to work. This is mirrored in their positive perceptions of AI’s potential impact; 79% believe that AI will allow them to provide patients with more accurate diagnoses, and 77% believe that it can provide them with the tools to keep patients healthy – both above the average of the 15 countries surveyed at 71% each.

Alongside advancements in AI, younger healthcare professionals in South Africa rate digital health technologies as an important tool to achieve better patient outcomes (83%), improved patients’ experiences (77%), and believe it will create more time to spend with patients (60%). This on the backdrop of younger South African healthcare professionals reporting that they have insufficient data to influence outcomes (64%) and feel that the data they have available does not lead to actionable insights (48%) – a reality exceeding experiences of those in many of the other countries surveyed.

Independent Public Health Practitioner, Operation Smile Ambassador & 2017 Woman of the Year in Health South Africa.

In addition to limited business acumen and legacy systems, measurement practices could be contributing to the performance of the health system in South Africa. While there is a general shift towards value-based care models in healthcare systems across the world, there is limited or no knowledge of value-based care among many younger healthcare professionals across all the countries surveyed. This is just as true for younger healthcare professionals in South Africa, where only one quarter (29%) say they know a lot about the term, indicating a need to improve their understanding.

93% of younger healthcare professionals in South Africa say their hospitals or practices use volume-based measures such as number or patients seen, spend per patient, number of beds filled or number of tests ordered, rather than value-based care measures with patient outcomes at its core. Given that younger healthcare professionals will ultimately be responsible for implementing this shift from volume to value-based care, their understanding of the concept is critical.

“The challenge of transforming healthcare lies on the shoulders of this next generation of healthcare professionals; it is imperative that we create better work-life balance, empower them with clinical and non-clinical skills, and drive autonomy in the hospital or practice where they are working which could be significantly improved by the implementation of new technology, to address the local needs and improve patient outcomes. Because the inverse is simply not an option.”