Philani clinic closed
Demands for MEC to address overtime, weekend shifts
THE Philani Clinic in Mlungisi remained closed for the second week as demands continued to mount for Health MEC Dr Phumza Dyantyi to address issues raised with her in a letter by community members last year.
Mlungisi residents burnt tyres and sang outside the clinic this week, vowing it would not reopen until Dyantyi addressed grievances.
The clinic was closed for a day on March 15 – and then closed again last week.
Clinic committee chairwoman Nompumelelo Kweza said nurses were forced to work seven days, instead of five, per week and were not paid on time.
“There is nothing written down that they should work seven days a week,” Kweza said.
“If a patient dies while they are attending to him/her, the department can say it never told them to work.”
In addition, she said the district office had deducted up to R1 500 from nurses’ salaries when they refused to work weekends.
She said the morale was low and that nurses who were unable to deal with the alleged ill treatment, resigned.
She confirmed that two nurses had recently tendered their resignations.
The committee has been asking that the request for nurses to work on weekends be put in writing.
Kweza said there was also dissatisfaction that a certain nurse, whose name is known to The Rep, was swearing at patients using their HIV/Aids status as an insult.
“We want her [the nurse] removed from this clinic. She is traumatising both patients and staff members.”
She claimed the nurse had previously had to leave both Sada and Molteno after similar complaints.
“We will not be violent in addressing our grievances. It does not matter if it takes a year but we will not open this clinic until the issues have been addressed by the MEC. This is now a total shutdown.”
The committee wrote a letter accompanied by 68 signatures to Dyantyi on November 30.
A deputy director, who only signed as N Nyatela, subsequently wrote a letter to deputy director-general for clinical services Dr PH Maduna to investigate.
“This is in receipt of a complaint from Philani Clinic Committee in Komani, attached is the correspondence for ease reference. By the directive of the honorary MEC Dr PP Dyantyi, you are kindly requested to investigate the matter and report to the MEC, to allow her to respond to the writer,” Nyatela wrote.
Health department provincial spokesman Sizwe Kupelo said people requested a 24-hour service at Philani Clinic but that the department had instead opted for a seven-days-a-week service with normal office hours.
When the department took over clinics from municipalities, it had increased the number of nurses from four to 12 to accommodate the increased number of working days.
“Nurses started refusing to work weekends saying they were not paid. Upon investigation it was actually discovered the delay was on their side,” Kupelo said.
“Overtime is not paid with salaries. There are claim documents one must fill in for payment to be processed. They did not fill in the documents. Where we are now is that the disciplinary hearings have been put on hold.”
He said there was an ongoing investigation of the matter and he appealed to the community to respect the internal processes of the department.
“The community can complain and must then allow the department to investigate. The community has no right to say who must leave and when.
“Their action can expose the department to litigation. They must file a formal complaint and be willing to testify during the disciplinary proceedings,” he said.
The office of the MEC, the district manager Nomeko Kizza and Enoch Mgijima Local Municipality executive mayor Lindiwe Gunuza Nkwentsha and councillors would engage the community on the petition, Kupelo said.
‘Upon investigation it was actually discovered the delay was on their side’