Nurse forces government to place her at the clinic of her choice

A qualified nurse has obtained an urgent court order forcing the Gauteng health department to place her at the clinic of her choice for her year of community service.

Dané Hertz approached the court with the help of trade union Solidarity, after being given the run-around with her placement since November last year.

Although the department initially indicated it would oppose her application, no opposing papers were filed and a settlement was reached: the department was given 30 days to place Hertz at the OR Tambo Clinic in Johannesburg.

Judge Tshifiwa Maumela confirmed the agreement as a court order in the High Court in Pretoria yesterday. Anton van der Bill, head of Solidarity’s centre for fair labour practices, said it was an excellent victory for them and Hertz, but it was sad that they had to go so far just to force the department to comply with its statutory obligations.

“We’re flooded with doctors and nurses with similar problems and we’re very happy about the precedent set by this matter for future cases.

“Now we have to see if the department will actually comply with the court order,” Van der Bill said. Hertz said she was very relieved with the outcome of the case.

“This post was exactly what I was looking for. It was my first choice because it is 8km from my house,” she said.

She said in court papers she was initially placed at the Thelle Mogoerane hospital in Vosloorus, but received a message at the end of November last year stating that her placement had been rejected because she applied for a post in a province which she was not supposed to.

She re-applied and was thereafter repeatedly assured that the department was working on placing her. She had still not received any response by June.

Hertz said she had already lost six months of her possible pensionable income and unable to complete the final pre-requisite in order to qualify as a professional nurse.