Durban – The KwaZulu-Natal Department of Health has indicated that strike action has not had an impact on the province’s health facilities except for Grey’s Hospital.
On Tuesday evening, the department said that it had noted with concern unprotected industrial action by certain individuals at some of its health-care facilities earlier that day.
The department said that the action had minimal impact on the functioning of these hospitals and clinics, except for uMgungundlovu District, where services were stalled for a while at Grey’s Hospital.
It said that a few facilities were forced to work with a skeleton staff while staff picketed for a limited time.
“However, the provision of health services at Grey’s Hospital only resumed at midday after a blockade of access to the hospital from 5am because of the industrial action,” the department said.
“Services resumed soon after the gates were opened for staff to walk in and report at their workstations.”
The department cautioned the public, including leaders and members of organised labour, against the blockading of access routes and entrances to clinics and hospitals as this could result in unnecessary and avoidable loss of lives.
The department also said it was relieved that there had been no major complications but it would continue to monitor the situation on the ground.
KZN Health MEC Nomagugu Simelane said: “We are making an appeal to the conscience of those who participate in these kinds of gatherings to refrain from blocking access points to our health facilities. People who end up bearing the brunt of these blockages are innocent health-care users who may be really sick and might even die if they don’t get attended to by health professionals.
“We would also like to remind all health-care professionals that they are classified as essential services, which means they are prohibited from embarking on strike action. We wish to make an appeal to leaders and members of organised labour to utilise all established channels to engage with the department on any pertinent issue. This is the only prudent approach as it will avoid any unintended consequences such as loss of lives due to disruption to normal service delivery.”
Daily News