‘Even if another MEC was to take over, the nurses would still not be appointed’ – Health MEC
MEC, Phophi Ramathuba says calls for her removal are misdirected. #PhophiMustFall
POLOKWANE – Various calls have in recent months surfaced amid a looming healthcare crisis, for the MEC, Phophi Ramathuba, to vacate her seat in office.
Unions, official nurse and doctor structures and employees alike have taken to protests, the media and social media lamenting the poor state of healthcare in the province.
Members of Nehawu and the Young Nurses Indaba Union recently staged separate marches to the department’s building, to voice their dissatisfaction with the fact that young nurses have not been absorbed into the system.
This Sunday saw the hashtag a #PhophiMustFall trend on social media, where individuals voiced their grievances with the Health MEC and called for her removal.
Issues raised varied from a lack of equipment at hospitals, failing emergency services, professional staff shortages, safety in rural- based institutions and also the non-absorption of nurses into the system. This week, BONUS exclusively took the time to engage with Ramathuba.
Having inherited a department that had been put under administration before her term, surely posed certain challenges, she said, but efforts to revive an ailing system should receive credit.
“When I took office, the department was a mess. I had to start from scratch. Various key appointments had to be made in terms of provincial structures, hospitals and clinics. Departmental institutions were crumbling because there was a lack of accountability based on the high number of individuals acting in their positions,” she told BONUS.
Milestones have been reached in terms of, for example, the acquisition of CT scans in all regional hospitals, the launch of a medical school and various first-time operations that have taken place, she commented.
On the issue of young nurses, the MEC said the calls for her removal are misdirected and that the powers to do this, lie with Treasury.
https://www.citizen.co.za/review-online/343615/watch-want-absorb-nurses/
“We know this is a hot topic, but even if another MEC was to take over, they still would not be appointed.”
This, she said, was because the nurses were funded at college for four years, and usually this means that graduates are obliged to serve the department for the same number of years as the duration of their studies.
The nurses, she said, were released from their contractual obligation due to a lack of funding on the department’s part: “They should be grateful that they have acquired a qualification on our bill and that they don’t need to pay it back”.
She said the department has a number of nursing colleges that produce graduates annually.
“This number can reach up to 450 nurses in a single year. It simply is not possible to absorb 450 nurses into the system, from a budget perspective.”
According to Ramathuba the department is working to increase security at all healthcare institutions to ensure the safety of patients and staff.
“The same hospitals which you saw pictures of on social media, were the ones we recently visited. We found everything to be in order.”
She lamented the fact that nurses in general, don’t adhere to ethical guidelines in terms of their work conduct.
“Nurses will carry a casket as a form of protest. If they can’t respect the dead, how can we be assured that they will respect the living?”she asked, “Even if prospective employers wanted to employ them, I doubt they would given the manner in which they carry themselves.”
Ramathuba encouraged citizens to work with the Health Department in terms of ensuring a partnership for better healthcare.
