The Free State Department of Health’s decision to not renew the employment contracts of approximately 1 400 persons enlisted as part of an intervention against the Covid-19-pandemic, has been met with public outrage.
Patients and nursing staff alike bear the brunt of this decision, which has seen disgruntled patients disrupting the services of at least two primary healthcare clinics in Botshabelo, demanding basic service.
The two clinics, Bophelong in Section D and Itumeleng in Section M, have become focal points with sporadic protest by patients. On Monday, 28 October, angry patients temporarily closed the Bophelong Clinic, seven days after a similar protest at the Itumeleng Clinic.
BloemExpress was flooded with calls from patients, bitterly lamenting their frustration after the continued rescheduling of appointments and their missing of chronic treatment due to severe staff shortages at the clinics in question. According to patients, the severe shortage of nursing personnel has caused basic services to plummet to such a degree that the services find themselves “in the intensive care unit (ICU)”.
“Our appointments are being rescheduled daily because the clinic staff is overburdened with the responsibility of attending to among others pregnant women, babies and patients with chronic illness,” says Thabo Dibocho (68), who receives chronic medication at the Itumeleng Clinic.
“Service is extremely poor. It is frustrating going to the clinic, and costly too, bearing the transport fare of being returned home without getting treatment. This has been ongoing for several years.”
It emerged that this clinic operates with one professional nurse working with an operational manager, who are both attending to more than 1 656 patients a month.
“When one is on leave or sick leave, the other is duty-bound to also dispense medication to patients – in addition to attending to acutely ill patients, newborn babies and their mothers; and operating the clinic,” said a staff nurse, speaking on anonymous grounds for fear of intimidation.
“Some of us are suffering mental depression due to this shortage and are struggling to cope. This is very heavy on us; having your own personal problems and working under pressure, a stress on its own.”
According to Mondli Mvambi, spokesperson for the department, they have exhausted all efforts to retain the affected persons who were enlisted since the 2020 Covid-19 pandemic.
“The department has done all that it can over the years to extend the lifespan of Covid-19 contracts by way of creating permanent employment opportunities where these workers can be encouraged to apply for employment opportunities. The department has advertised vacant positions and encouraged the Covid-19 contract workers to apply.
“With all the engagements facilitated, the department is unfortunately at the situation where it cannot sustain the payment of Covid-19 salaries in view of the tight fiscal space that it finds itself in,” said Mvambi.
