Workers resume with duties at Addington Hospital
Workers have since returned to their posts.
CALM has been restored at Addington Hospital after government officials met with the frustrated healthcare workers.
Yesterday, healthcare workers at the Durban hospital stopped working and held a protest outside the building over its faulty lifts.
The workers said the service and passenger lifts at the 16-storey building have not been working perfectly for two months.
ALSO READ: Staff at Addington Hospital down tools
The Department of Health (DOH) said the malfunctioning of lifts was due to flood damage and a service provider has been appointed to source the required parts.
The DOH said they are still waiting for the parts from overseas with the delay being caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.
Dr Sandile Tshabalala, Head of Kwazulu-Natal Department of Health, said they have formed a working committee that will monitor lift maintenance at the hospital.
ALSO READ: VIDEO: Plans to move Addington Hospital on the cards
The committee is made up of union members, engineers, hospital management and senior government officials.
“The department understands the frustrations of staff and the public, and wishes to assure them that the situation at the hospital will soon return to normal,” said Tshabalala in a statement.
“In the same vein, the department appeals to the affected essential services workers to put the needs of the public first, and not move away from their noble mandate as health workers, which is to heal the sick, and save lives.”
The committee will be responsible for, among others:
*Monitoring the day-to-day functioning of the hospital and the lifts repair process;
*Ensuring that there is regular communication between engineers, hospital management, and organised labour.
*Keeping staff at all levels informed of the progress made in addressing any identified challenges.
Tshabalala said there’s a construction plan in place to permanently resolve the lift problems at the hospital, which will commence next year.
Operations continue as normal at the hospital as of Thursday.
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*At the time of going to press, the contents of this feature mirrored South Africa’s lockdown regulations.
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