Pathologists down tools at Pietersburg Provincial Hospital
Several employees in the pathology department downed tools on Monday, 26 June, in refusal to do work they are not qualified or paid for.
POLOKWANE – This comes after they allege they have received no accreditation or recognition for work they have done for several years.
They spoke to Review on condition of anonymity due to fear of victimisation and said the problem began around 10 years ago when they were called to start doing dissection as part of an in-house and in-service training programme.
“Through all the experience we have we should actually be pathologists, yet our names are never placed on autopsy reports, which make the reports not valid because the person signing the report did not perform the autopsy. The persons who did the work are referred to as cleaners or assistants,” one of the employees explained.
“They have been dragging their feet to give us our qualifications because the work is being done and we are good at what we do, yet we do not get recognition and we are at risk of injury or infection which we will not be covered for as we are not qualified (and not supposed) to do the work we do. We have engaged with the department at many levels but have received no feedback regarding our grievances. Our unions have also tried to meet with them to no avail. This lack of qualifications also affect the salaries we receive even if we do the work expected of that pay grade.”
As the Pietersburg Provincial Hospital is a referral hospital, the employees said they work on around 80 bodies a month.
“We want the qualifications, we want the degrees, and we want the salaries. We have even trained younger doctors to do dissection yet we are not qualified to do so. We are not on strike, we are just not doing the work we are not supposed to do or are not paid for.”
Department of Health Spokesperson, Derick Kganyago, said the department was not aware of the problem and he would like to see the employees’ complaints in writing.
“If the people say they have had these problems for so long we expect them to come and report the matter with the needed documentation.
“We have not received any documentation so far and I cannot comment on something I have not seen,” he said.
Kganyago said a meeting is arranged between the hospital employees and the department with regard to the matter but that details have not yet been finalised.
