Crisis at local clinic

MATSULU – Patients were forced to turn back without being assisted at the local clinic because nurses downed tools from Monday.

This comes after rumours that the clinic was short staffed and volunteers were told to vacate by senior staff. According to witnesses, about 30 patients were locked out of the clinic this morning and nurses were seen seated in circles outside the clinic.

An employee who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the problem started when permanent workers complained on being short-staffed and being overworked. It is also alleged that volunteers were told to end their services yesterday, a thing which angered nurses who then resolved to down tools. They said they cannot do data capturing and clerks’ work on top of their own work.

Mr Dumisani Malamule, spokesperson for the department of health says: “The department has learnt that the Matsulu B clinic has been temporarily closed because nurses alleged that they cannot work without a clerk. This follows a decision taken by the Department to discontinue the use of voluntary staff in all health facilities. The reason for this is that the volunteers work without contracts and they are vulnerable to various incidents that may occur whilst they are not covered for any compensation,” said Malamule.

He further explained that the Matsulu B clinic is one of the clinics that had a clerk that worked on a voluntary basis and the clerk’s services have since been terminated following this decision.

“The Department will find a temporary replacement to assist the clinic on Administration issues whilst processes to appoint more staff are being finalised. After learning about the closure of the clinic, the Department dispatched a team to address the staff at the clinic and the clinic is now operating normally again. The Department would like to apologise to the community for any inconvenience caused,” Malamule concluded.