Sowetan reports that a facility in Limpopo that provides treatment for extreme cases of drug resistant Tuberculosis (TB) has been temporarily shut down after the provincial health department suspended over 30 nurses working there. On Wednesday patients were transported away from the Modimolle MDR TB Unit. The specialised unit, which has not been gazetted as a hospital, is the only facility of its kind in the province. Nurses were apparently served with suspension letters after they refused to work while wearing protective masks they viewed as sub-standard. Patients at the facility are usually kept in secluded wards with a strict requirement for medical staff and visitors to wear protective masks to avoid infections.
Thobile Ntola of the South African Public Service Union (SAPSU) said it was unfair for the provincial department to expect staff to work without proper protective gear. On Wednesday he was helping to secure legal representation for affected workers. The nurses had complained that the masks had failed an infection-proof test on numerous occasions. An occupational health and safety report leaked to the Sowetan reflects that tests were conducted on masks and only four passed.
Derrick Kganyago, spokesperson at provincial health department, denied that there was a problem with the masks, saying that the tender had been approved nationally. Kganyago said the department was forced to temporarily close down the facility due to a number of problems, including the fact that staff members were instigating illegal strikes and refusing to perform their duties as expected. e said the department had made preparations for patients to be accommodated at other hospitals while the situation was being resolved. One of the suspension letters seen by Sowetan states that the nurses have been placed on precautionary suspension for “instigating an unlawful, wild cat strike at the MDR TB Unit”. The letter states that the nurses will be placed on paid suspension for 60 days while investigations continue, adding that nurses will be barred from entering the premises without permission from the department. “You are further prohibited from making any form of contact with any fellow staff member or the media to discuss this matter without the permission of the Head of Department,” the letter states. Nurses were also instructed to vacate the premises with immediate effect.
One nurse said the suspension came as a surprise because they never went on strike, but had only refused to use deficient masks. Another nurse said: “We don’t understand why we are being suspended because those masks have a lot of defects. This situation is distressing.”
Information from the SA National Association for Tuberculosis reflects that the disease remains the leading cause of death in country.
Read this report by Zoë Mahopo in full on page 10 of Sowetan of 29 September 2016
Get other news reports at the SA Labour News home page