SA faces a severe shortage of critical care resources, with only 4 719 ICU beds nationwide, of which just 1 186 are in the public sector, serving most of the 64m population. – MedicalBrief (10 Dec 2025)
The country has just over 6 000 trained critical care nurses, while the exact number of critical care subspecialists remains uncertain.
According to Professor Isabel Coetzee-Prinsloo from the University of Pretoria, this situation can be transformed by quality education, practice development and knowledge translation. She emphasised that critical care units are fundamentally nurse-led, relying on highly trained nurses working closely with physicians and intensivists.
A recent study by U Gangen, I Joubert and D Wagstaff, published in the SA Medical Journal, provides the first official count of recognised adult critical care subspecialists, a qualification governed by the Health Professions Council of South Africa (HPCSA). Despite critical care being a recognised subspecialty since 1992, and its examination formalised in 1999, only 82 adult subspecialists were registered by December 2023.
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