MEC must place appointments of nurses at top of agenda

both untenable and hazardous to the nursing sister and all the sick people of Richmond.

“The Kimberley Hospital is also facing possible theatre cuts as a result of overworked nursing sisters, directly as a result of a shortage of nursing staff at the facility.”

He said that cutting down on theatre time would cause patient backlogs to pile up even more, subsequently also delaying medical care for seriously ill patients.

“This situation is a doubleedged sword for both patients and nurses alike, and it has arisen as a result of the provincial Health Department’s poor management of nursing appointments. This is unacceptable.”

According to Fritz, what made the situation more frustrating was the fact that a number of nurses were actually keen to work in the Northern Cape and had applied for advertised posts and had undergone interviews in as far back as October last year.

“To date these appointments have yet to be processed.”

He added that DA was aware that the recently appointed MEC of Health, Fufe Makatong, was said to have signed all appointments “but whether the nurses who initially applied are still available to fill these vacant posts remains to be seen”. “There are also questions as to whether the posts are in fact funded.”

The DA has indicated that it will write to Makatong, appealing to her to place the appointments of professional nursing staff at the top of her agenda.

Fritz called on Makatong to ensure that proper processes were complied with, from start to end, when recruiting health professionals, in order to prevent untimely delays that will in effect cause the Province to lose nursing staff to other provinces.

“Given the past freeze on state posts, the MEC also needs to ensure that the necessary permission is granted by the relevant authorities to make appointments and that funds for the appointment of critical health professionals are ring-fenced and readily available. Administrative bungles must not be allowed to compromise patient care.”

Fritz pointed out further that, because the Northern Cape was a rural province, there was not an unlimited supply of nurses who actually wanted to work in the Province.

“Those who do should be snapped up by the state, provided they have the necessary qualifications, or their services will be lost to the provincial health care system forever.”

Lebogang Majaha, spokesperson for the Office of the MEC