Mon séjour en Afrique du Sud (Cape Town)

AS HOSPITALS in the northern areas of Tshwane turn patients away, the Health Department is threatening to fire hundreds of striking doctors.

More than 336 doctors from Dr George Mukhari Hospital and 24 from Jubilee Hospital have ignored a court interdict issued on Friday barring them from striking.

Gauteng Health spokesman JP Louw said: “At this point we are seriously looking at issuing the striking doctors with letters of dismissal. We are also looking at reporting them to the Health Professions Council of South Africa. The government understands and it is not that we are insensitive to their issues, but there is procedure to follow and negotiations are continuing. So there is no reason or justification for doctors to go on an unprotected strike.”

The doctors are demanding occupational specific dispensation (OSD) payments, which then Health Minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang promised in June 2007 would be implemented last year.

Louw said the “no work, no pay” principle would apply to the striking doctors.

Although the military has been called in to assist at George Mukhari, ambulances have been told to take patients to the Steve Biko Academic and Kalafong hospitals.

Steve Biko has also been forced to take in patients from Jubilee Hospital. Jubilee, the only hospital in Hammanskraal, is turning away patients at the gates.

One nurse, who did not want to be named, said Jubilee was a disaster. “People are going to die very soon. Without doctors no one can live. We want the soldiers to come back. All the staff here are worried about the situation,” she said.

Yesterday the SANDF deployed medical officers to the hospital but they were recalled at about noon and redeployed to George Mukhari where the situation was “more urgent”.

When Pretoria News went to Jubilee yesterday afternoon, nurses expressed their anger at the situation as they walked through empty wards and waiting areas.

A sister, who holds a senior position, said the hospital could not take in any patients as no one was sufficiently qualified to assist them. “We are not coping. We want (the military) to come back,” the sister said.

SANDF spokesman Colonel Louis Kirstein said the decision to deploy medical officers at Jubilee was a joint one between the SANDF and the Department of Health.

Recalling the officers to George Mukhari was a decision by the department through their analysis of where their most urgent need was.

When Pretoria news visited Steve Biko yesterday, the hospital appeared to be running normally.

A nurse from Jubilee who had accompanied three patients to Steve Biko said most of their patients were discharged on Friday. He said some wards were completely empty while others only had a handful of patients.

A nurse at Steve Biko said patients with serious conditions were referred from Mamelodi and George Mukhari hospitals.

Yesterday a spokesman for the striking doctors, Dr Rapitse Malatji, said the strike was continuing and affected “many hospitals” across the country.

Both the SA Medical Association (Sama) and Cosatu urged the doctors to return to work.

Yesterday the striking doctors met Sama and a mediator, said Malatji. “Sama should not represent us. We want to be directly involved,” he said.

Malatji was dismissive of the Public Service Co-ordinating Bargaining Council, where the department finally tabled an OSD proposal on Friday. The council meets again later today.