Tzaneen: Hospital ‘fails patients’
They claim that for the past few months the X-ray and nursing departments, as well as the pharmacy, have not been in service on weekends and after hours.
Some employees of Van Velden Hospital and emergency personnel (ER) of the institution claim that the health facility is failing the local community when it does not pay overtime to the workers.
They claim that for the past few months the X-ray and nursing departments, as well as the pharmacy, have not been in service on weekends and after hours, due to failure by the hospital to compensate employees for their efforts.
“In June we worked overtime but we did not get paid (overtime), only doctors were paid, when we enquired about our overtime we were told that there was no budget for our departments. “In July we decided to not work overtime and work according to the hours stated in our contracts when we got employed,” explained one of the infuriated employees.
A pharmacist who asked to remain anonymous stated that they are currently facing the challenge of not having drivers during the day, because the drivers are only working at night, which affects their work.
“We are supposed to send a driver to get medication at other institutions but we can’t because they are no longer working during the day. “In the past we used to use our own cars to fetch the medication from other health facilities, but we decided that we will not do it anymore, because management does not seem to be bothered about it,” the displeased pharmacist stated. Meanwhile, some ER personnel who approached Letaba Herald also claim that their jobs and the lives of their patients are at risk because of this challenge.
“When a patient in Magoebaskloof is hurt and in urgent need of health services we have to take them to Van Velden Hospital, but now we can’t so we have to drive further to Letaba Hospital. “According to the Health Professions Council of South Africa, if a patient is injured in any kind of incident, we have to rush them to the nearest hospital. Van Velden is the nearest but now we can’t take them there and we are forced to drive past it to Letaba Hospital,” explained the disgruntled ER workers.
The paramedic workers also stated that management is failing them since they have been forced to use public toilets at filling stations for the past two months because their seniors cannot fix the only toilet their facility has.
They also claim that their office telephone line is not working and they currently do not have TB patient transporting vehicles which puts their health at risk.
Herald attempted on various occasions to reach the Provincial Spokesman Neil Shikwambana, Van Velden media liasion officer, Wisani Thuketana and CEO of Van Velden Johannes Selahla for comment, to no avail.
