Hospital porter Lazola Nqakula claimed he had been threatened with an incident report when he was given only a plastic apron as protection to carry a body from the Covid-19 ward.
Nqakula said when he asked where the PPE suit was, he was told to find one on his own.
“There was a body on the second floor that I was told to transport to the mortuary.
“I said to the sister-in-charge that I could only assume that duty with the proper PPE,” he said.
“We went back and forth and I was told to look for theatre gowns.
“The memorandum clearly states I should wear a disposable gown, N95 mask and proper gloves.
“She went on to tell me that before Covid-19 there was TB, and asked what I wore before.
“My response was there had been no coronavirus that could kill me and put my family at risk.”
Uitenhage Provincial Hospital management and National Education, Health and Allied Workers’ Union (Nehawu) regional leaders held a meeting at the facility with a delegation from the Eastern Cape government, led by legislature speaker Helen Sauls-August, which was conducting oversight visits.
Sauls-August was accompanied by ANC MPLs Tony Duba and Babalwa Lobishe, DA MPL Yusuf Cassim and EFF MPL Litha Zibula.
Nehawu regional secretary Sweetness Stokwe said on Monday workers had demanded the removal of the Uitenhage hospital’s CEO and head of nursing after feeling that their grievances were not being taken seriously.
Stokwe accused the managers of dragging the hospital down.
“We arrived at the hospital at around 10.30pm on Monday and left at around 2am on Tuesday, and we were shocked to discover that there was no soap, no paper towels and that [staff] members were expected to buy their own soap,” she said.
“Another shocking thing was members who had tested for Covid-19 were told to continue coming to work without having received their results.
“If some [test] positive during this period, they risk infecting their colleagues as well as other patients who come to the hospital seeking treatment.”
After the meeting with hospital management and the union, Sauls-August briefed the media and protesters.
“The hospital management told us about the long outstanding issues they had, such as staff shortages, which they’ve [applied for] for the last three years with provincial health.
“PPE was also brought up and test results of patients staying at the hospital taking between eight and nine days,” she said.
Sauls-August said they had instructed deputy director-general of health Litha Matiwane to look into the issues raised by the workers.
“We are expecting a report from province by tomorrow because, for us, there are some quick wins we believe should be done such as the issue of sanitisers, scrubs, PPE, soap and issues that need to be signed off.
“If province steps up and takes these issues as a matter of urgency, we will not be having this situation here,” she said.
The provincial delegation also visited the KwaDwesi testing facility, where nurses detailed their concerns.
“Before, people would receive their results in 48 hours, but now due to the large volumes of people testing, the results only come back in four to five days,” the nurse said.
On Tuesday night, the provincial government announced that it was spending more than R50m to upgrade the infrastructure of six major hospitals across the province to ready them to admit people infected by Covid-19.
Infrastructure upgrades at Grey Hospital in the Buffalo City metro; Mthatha General Hospital, St Elizabeth Hospital and Isilimela in OR Tambo; Dora Nginza Hospital in Nelson Mandela Bay, and Nompumelelo hospital in Pedi have already taken off.
Of the R50m investment, more than R5m has been allocated to Nelson Mandela Bay and R7m for the Sarah Baartman district municipality.
Premier Oscar Mabuyane said the investment during the pandemic would ensure long-lasting benefits to communities whose hospitals had decaying infrastructure. During a visit to the province on Monday, Mkhize said that 20 Cuban doctors would be deployed in Nelson Mandela Bay and Buffalo City by the end of this week.
Asked how many would be sent to the metro and what role they would play in the fight against Covid-19 in the province, , Manana said their deployment would be guided by the spread of the virus.
With more than 500 registered Covid-19 cases, the metro is the epicentre of the virus in the Eastern Cape.
“They [Cuban doctors] will form part of and strengthen community-based teams,” Manana said.
“They are cadres to help us in the fight against Covid-19.”
Health workers live in fear
Anxiety over lack of protective gear as positive cases among staff rise
Image: NOMAZIMA NKOSI
Nelson Mandela Bay nurses and other health workers, some of whom have been protesting since last week, do not feel safe.
Their concerns were given weight on Tuesday, when Eastern Cape health spokesperson Siyanda Manana, confirmed that the number of healthcare workers who had tested positive for Covid-19 in the metro had risen by 13 overnight to a total of 42.
Manana said nine of the 42 positive cases were in the private health sector.
Eleven of the infected workers were from the Zwide Clinic in Port Elizabeth.
Workers at the clinic downed tools on Monday in protest against the health department’s district office issuing a standard operating procedure that employees should continue to work while awaiting their Covid-19 test results.
On Tuesday, Uitenhage Provincial Hospital employees continued their week-long protest, demanding personal protective equipment (PPE) and the removal of the CEO and the head nurse.
Staff members holding placards reading “No PPE, No work” sang struggle songs outside the main entrance.
They alleged that they had had to work in a Covid-19 ward without the proper safety gear and were threatened with disciplinary action for refusing to carry out their duties.
The Eastern Cape has overtaken KwaZulu-Natal with the third-highest number of Covid-19 cases in SA.
According to health minister Zweli Mkhize, the Eastern Cape had 148 new cases since Monday, bringing the total number of cases to 1,504 on Tuesday.
The number of Covid-19 cases nationally had increased to 11,350.
At the Uitenhage hospital protest, one tearful nurse, who did not want to be identified, spoke of how her fears had been dismissed by a manager who allegedly instructed her to handle patients in the Covid-19 ward despite being pregnant and not having the proper PPE.
“I was told that Covid-19 wouldn’t penetrate my placenta,” she said.
Image: NOMAZIMA NKOSI
Another nurse, Nomthandazo Adam, said: “We work under extremely difficult circumstances.
“We’re forced to treat patients with Covid-19 without the proper attire and when we refuse do so, we’re told to resign or are threatened about never being promoted at the hospital.
“We’re nurses, we understand the oath we took, but we want the proper gear to do so.”
Qaliswa Napu said the safety of their families was one of their main concerns.
“We have children at home and we can’t expose them to clothes we’ve been wearing at the hospital for an entire day,” Napu said.
Hospital porter Lazola Nqakula claimed he had been threatened with an incident report when he was given only a plastic apron as protection to carry a body from the Covid-19 ward.
Nqakula said when he asked where the PPE suit was, he was told to find one on his own.
“There was a body on the second floor that I was told to transport to the mortuary.
“I said to the sister-in-charge that I could only assume that duty with the proper PPE,” he said.
“We went back and forth and I was told to look for theatre gowns.
“The memorandum clearly states I should wear a disposable gown, N95 mask and proper gloves.
“She went on to tell me that before Covid-19 there was TB, and asked what I wore before.
“My response was there had been no coronavirus that could kill me and put my family at risk.”
Uitenhage Provincial Hospital management and National Education, Health and Allied Workers’ Union (Nehawu) regional leaders held a meeting at the facility with a delegation from the Eastern Cape government, led by legislature speaker Helen Sauls-August, which was conducting oversight visits.
Sauls-August was accompanied by ANC MPLs Tony Duba and Babalwa Lobishe, DA MPL Yusuf Cassim and EFF MPL Litha Zibula.
Nehawu regional secretary Sweetness Stokwe said on Monday workers had demanded the removal of the Uitenhage hospital’s CEO and head of nursing after feeling that their grievances were not being taken seriously.
Stokwe accused the managers of dragging the hospital down.
“We arrived at the hospital at around 10.30pm on Monday and left at around 2am on Tuesday, and we were shocked to discover that there was no soap, no paper towels and that [staff] members were expected to buy their own soap,” she said.
“Another shocking thing was members who had tested for Covid-19 were told to continue coming to work without having received their results.
“If some [test] positive during this period, they risk infecting their colleagues as well as other patients who come to the hospital seeking treatment.”
After the meeting with hospital management and the union, Sauls-August briefed the media and protesters.
“The hospital management told us about the long outstanding issues they had, such as staff shortages, which they’ve [applied for] for the last three years with provincial health.
“PPE was also brought up and test results of patients staying at the hospital taking between eight and nine days,” she said.
Sauls-August said they had instructed deputy director-general of health Litha Matiwane to look into the issues raised by the workers.
“We are expecting a report from province by tomorrow because, for us, there are some quick wins we believe should be done such as the issue of sanitisers, scrubs, PPE, soap and issues that need to be signed off.
“If province steps up and takes these issues as a matter of urgency, we will not be having this situation here,” she said.
The provincial delegation also visited the KwaDwesi testing facility, where nurses detailed their concerns.
“Before, people would receive their results in 48 hours, but now due to the large volumes of people testing, the results only come back in four to five days,” the nurse said.
Hospital porter Lazola Nqakula claimed he had been threatened with an incident report when he was given only a plastic apron as protection to carry a body from the Covid-19 ward.
Nqakula said when he asked where the PPE suit was, he was told to find one on his own.
“There was a body on the second floor that I was told to transport to the mortuary.
“I said to the sister-in-charge that I could only assume that duty with the proper PPE,” he said.
“We went back and forth and I was told to look for theatre gowns.
“The memorandum clearly states I should wear a disposable gown, N95 mask and proper gloves.
“She went on to tell me that before Covid-19 there was TB, and asked what I wore before.
“My response was there had been no coronavirus that could kill me and put my family at risk.”
Uitenhage Provincial Hospital management and National Education, Health and Allied Workers’ Union (Nehawu) regional leaders held a meeting at the facility with a delegation from the Eastern Cape government, led by legislature speaker Helen Sauls-August, which was conducting oversight visits.
Sauls-August was accompanied by ANC MPLs Tony Duba and Babalwa Lobishe, DA MPL Yusuf Cassim and EFF MPL Litha Zibula.
Nehawu regional secretary Sweetness Stokwe said on Monday workers had demanded the removal of the Uitenhage hospital’s CEO and head of nursing after feeling that their grievances were not being taken seriously.
Stokwe accused the managers of dragging the hospital down.
“We arrived at the hospital at around 10.30pm on Monday and left at around 2am on Tuesday, and we were shocked to discover that there was no soap, no paper towels and that [staff] members were expected to buy their own soap,” she said.
“Another shocking thing was members who had tested for Covid-19 were told to continue coming to work without having received their results.
“If some [test] positive during this period, they risk infecting their colleagues as well as other patients who come to the hospital seeking treatment.”
After the meeting with hospital management and the union, Sauls-August briefed the media and protesters.
“The hospital management told us about the long outstanding issues they had, such as staff shortages, which they’ve [applied for] for the last three years with provincial health.
“PPE was also brought up and test results of patients staying at the hospital taking between eight and nine days,” she said.
Sauls-August said they had instructed deputy director-general of health Litha Matiwane to look into the issues raised by the workers.
“We are expecting a report from province by tomorrow because, for us, there are some quick wins we believe should be done such as the issue of sanitisers, scrubs, PPE, soap and issues that need to be signed off.
“If province steps up and takes these issues as a matter of urgency, we will not be having this situation here,” she said.
The provincial delegation also visited the KwaDwesi testing facility, where nurses detailed their concerns.
“Before, people would receive their results in 48 hours, but now due to the large volumes of people testing, the results only come back in four to five days,” the nurse said.
On Tuesday night, the provincial government announced that it was spending more than R50m to upgrade the infrastructure of six major hospitals across the province to ready them to admit people infected by Covid-19.
Infrastructure upgrades at Grey Hospital in the Buffalo City metro; Mthatha General Hospital, St Elizabeth Hospital and Isilimela in OR Tambo; Dora Nginza Hospital in Nelson Mandela Bay, and Nompumelelo hospital in Pedi have already taken off.
Of the R50m investment, more than R5m has been allocated to Nelson Mandela Bay and R7m for the Sarah Baartman district municipality.
Premier Oscar Mabuyane said the investment during the pandemic would ensure long-lasting benefits to communities whose hospitals had decaying infrastructure. During a visit to the province on Monday, Mkhize said that 20 Cuban doctors would be deployed in Nelson Mandela Bay and Buffalo City by the end of this week.
Asked how many would be sent to the metro and what role they would play in the fight against Covid-19 in the province, , Manana said their deployment would be guided by the spread of the virus.
With more than 500 registered Covid-19 cases, the metro is the epicentre of the virus in the Eastern Cape.
“They [Cuban doctors] will form part of and strengthen community-based teams,” Manana said.
“They are cadres to help us in the fight against Covid-19.”
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