Uitenhage hospital staff strike over lack of protective gear

Uitenhage Provincial Hospital workers have no choice but to strike as they are not being protected from Covid-19, they say. 

Thursday was the third day of a strike they embarked on to demand personal protective equipment (PPE).

The workers said they had not been supplied with the correct protective gear and had serious concerns when it came to the hospital’s mortuary. 

While the health department would only say that a meeting was held on Thursday to discuss the employees’ concerns, without elaborating, the hospital workers said they were most concerned that the bodies of those who had died from the coronavirus were not being kept apart from those who had died from other causes.

They said they were afraid because the virus could still be transmitted from a corpse and they did not have the proper PPE, which put them at risk. One of the employees, who did not want to be named, said: “There are not separate fridges to store Covid-19 cases and non-infected bodies.

“When we transport bodies to the mortuary, we’re not given the proper PPE to protect both ourselves and our families, instead we’re given masks and gloves.

“There’s been a situation where a doctor, wearing fully PPE, treats a Covid-19 case or a suspected case, but when it comes to the rest us of, we’re told to wear plastic aprons and masks.

“Is it because some of us don’t have medical degrees that we’re not worth protecting?”

As of Thursday afternoon, Nelson Mandela Bay had 403 Covid-19 cases and eight deaths.

It is not clear if any of the deaths were linked to the Uitenhage Provincial Hospital.

Another employee claimed they had been threatened with disciplinary action should they refuse to work in wards with Covid-19 patients. 

The nurse said all they asked was to be informed of patients who had tested positive for the virus so they could protect themselves when handling them.

“It’s not that we’re refusing to work, that’s not the case. 

“We don’t have PPE. According to them [health authorities], we must wear a plastic apron that doesn’t even cover our arms. 

“A porter who works for us went to fetch a suspected case and didn’t have proper PPE when transporting the body to the mortuary —  all he had on were gloves and this plastic apron,” the nurse said.

A third employee, who also did not want to be named, said those who had accessed the mortuary since Friday had been called by the hospital to be tested for the virus. 

“Managers are scrambling now because they’ve put not only our lives in danger, but also the lives of those coming into the hospital seeking treatment as well as our families.”

Nehawu regional secretary, Sweetness Stokwe, said one ward at the hospital had been identified as a Covid-19 unit.

Stokwe said union members alleged that there were patients all over the hospital —  not just in the dedicated ward — who had tested positive for the virus.

“There is no PPE for our general staff and about 20 boxes of Covid-19 waste has been lying around the hospital without it being dealt with,” she alleged.

Stokwe said there were also no signs indicating which were Covid-19 wards.

Eastern Cape provincial spokesperson Siyanda Manana confirmed the department was aware of the strike.

“There’s a meeting ongoing between the union and management around issues of workers and its outcomes will be communicated,” Manana said.