POLOKWANE – The Health Department has condoned the disruption of services and intimidation and harassment of patients by Nehawu members, which occurred at the Pietersburg Provincial Hospital on Tuesday. This, as union members embarked on an illegal strike relating to the payment of performance bonuses.
On Tuesday, union members obstructed patient care by blocking theatre entrances as well as nurses and doctors from attending to patients. Departmental Spokesperson, Neil Shikwambana said members trashed the maternity wards and hospital kitchen. “Nurses who were assisting women during childbirth, had to run for cover as the picketers were in complete destruction mode,” he told BONUS. Food was strewn across the floors by Tuesday evening.
On Monday, 9 December, angry shop stewards affiliated to the union told the Health MEC, Phophi Ramathuba to “voertsek” before officiating the insourcing of renal dialysis at the hospital.
You might also want to read: [WATCH] Limpopo Health MEC told to ‘voertsek’
A stage three colon cancer patient told BONUS she arrived at the hospital at 06:00 on Tuesday morning where she found members singing and dancing outside the door of the oncology unit. “Initially, there was no disruption and I was able to open my file, get my vitals checked and was given a patient number. It was only after waiting for the doctor to arrive that I noticed the protestors throwing our files around after taking them from the nurses helping us.”
The patient says nurses then locked their files away and when she asked what was going on, she was told she shouldn’t speak to them. “The nurse helping me said I shouldn’t speak to her as she was afraid of getting beaten up by the protestors. It looked as if the protestors were threatening the nurses on duty and telling them not to attend to the patients. Some of the nurses on duty took off their uniforms and wore red Nehawu T-shirts before joining in the protest.”
The patient says she was told by a doctor that patients would not be receiving chemotherapy treatment. “I need to receive the treatment once every three weeks and missing a day would be detrimental to my health. Nurses told me that the department is fully booked for chemotherapy and might not be able to replace the day I missed. There are about 40 other patients who are also in doubt,” she said. “I am worried about how they will be able to attend to all of us if they say they are already fully booked until 3 January.” When leaving, patients had to exit the hospital on Dorp Street as the protestors had blocked the main entrances to the hospital.
