The Eastern Cape Department of Health is appealing for patience as some healthcare workers at Livingstone Hospital have embarked on a go-slow over unpaid overtime.
Services have been affected as the hospital is operating with a skeleton staff. Those who have embarked on the go-slow include doctors, nurses, porters, general workers, food services, cleaners and drivers, among others.
An anonymous source told the PE Express that three specialists are included in the number of staff members who have participated in the go slow, “The workers are fed up, the situation is really bad. The casualty is completely empty, patients are not getting the help they need. The government really needs to pay its workers, so they can continue giving patients the best health care possible. It’s unfair to expect them to do it for free.”
MEC’s spokesperson, Mkhululi Ndamase from the Eastern Cape Department of Health said, “The department expects that services will soon be back to normal as payment will be processed on the next two Persal runs today, February 7, and February 23, 2024, respectively.”
“The payments will also include other staff who are still owed overtime,” Ndamase concluded.
