Mseleni Hospital nurses threaten to strike

The nursing staff at Mseleni Hospital, KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) have threatened strike action if the hospital management refuses to meet with union representatives.

Nurses formed a picket line on Thursday demanding, among others, free Covid-19 testing. This comes after five nurses recently tested positive for Covid-19.

One of the nurses said being a front line health worker leaves them vulnerable to infections.

“There are a lot of irregularities at this institution because of poor management. After a patient died from Covid-19 complications, only a few nurses were tested and the rest were forced to use their own medical aid to have testing done.

“There was also no disinfecting of wards after five nurses tested positive… it was work as usual,” the nurse said.

Union representatives were approached to step in, but management refused to meet with them, leading to the picket action to highlight the frustrations.

The National Education, Health and Allied Workers’ Union (Nehawu) regional secretary, Thulani Mthembu, said they were aware of the hospital management’s resistance to meeting with union representatives.

“As a regional structure, we have written a letter requesting an urgent meeting with the hospital management before the end of the week,” he said.

KZN Premier Sihle Zikalala said he was worried as Covid-19 numbers in the province grow by the week. He said the province’s Covid-19 cases was nowhere near to what was predicted.

“The medical and scientific team had projected the province to be at more than 200,000 patients by mid-July. We are currently sitting above 23,000 confirmed laboratory cases.

“This says we are behind the projected figures… The rise in infections is, however, worrying us,” he added on Sunday afternoon.

He said the projected ICU admissions were also lower, with 45 patients in ICU and high care while he added that the recent increase in numbers meant more had to be done.

As of 13 July, the province had registered 27,387 Covid-19 positive cases. This includes 286 deaths and 7,521 recoveries.

According to the premier, eThekwini and its neighbouring district, UMgungundlovu, account for 60% of the cases recorded daily.

Zikalala further said the King Cetshwayo district was also a cause for concern, recording around 66 cases per day, adding the iLembe District, a previous hotspot, had been stable for six weeks, but on 10 July alone had recorded 133 cases.

He added there was an increase in patients admitted to ICUs and hospitals in general at both private and public facilities.

This article first appeared on Zulu Observer and was republished with permission.

For more news your way, download The Citizen’s app for iOS and Android.