Healthcare workers at the Chris Hani Baragwanath hospital say if the more than 800 contracts are terminated, this will compromise the provision of health services and put the lives of patients at risk.
They held a picket outside the hospital in Soweto. More than 800 workers were hired at the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic to augment the current healthcare staff.
Chris Hani Baragwanath Academic Hospital staffers picket:
They say the hospital is facing a staff shortage and needs the assistance of the additional healthcare workers. Chairperson of the Medical Advisory Committee at the hospital Mampapatla Ramogopa says the hospital is limping from one crisis to another.
“Even more embarrassing of late we hear there is no bread for patients in this hospital. If you take a walk in the hospital, you find that the waste material is overflowing in the bins, it has not been collected in a long time, because of non-payment and as a result, doctors and nurses have to contribute money to buy food for patients.”
Temporary posts can’t be renewed
The Gauteng Health Department says it is unable to renew all the 8 000 COVID-19 temporary posts due to budgetary constraints. It says the initial COVID-19 grant budget of R2.2 billion towards compensating these workers has since been reduced to R1.1 billion for the 2022/23 financial year.
Therefore, the department will not be able to renew all the temporary contracts when their contracts end at the end of this month.
Gauteng Health spokesperson Kwara Kekana, “In as much as the GDoH wants to keep all COVID-19 appointees to continue providing much-needed services, it is not possible to extend all the contracts without funding. The MEC added that the decision on which employees will be appointed will be based on service needs at each hospital and the availability of the budget in each facility.”
