PORT ELIZABETH - NEW BRIGHTON HEALTHCARE WORKERS DOWN TOOLS AFTER TB HOSPITAL CONVERSION TO COVID-19 ISOLATION SITE

Empilweni TB Hospital staff downed tools for a second consecutive day on Thursday in an effort to air their frustration over the New Brighton facility being converted into a Covid-19 isolation site.

The grievances include TB patients being transferred to other hospitals without consultation and the slow pace of testing nurses.

Speaking on behalf of the nurses, Nehawu regional chair Godwell Pokolo said the agreement was that the department of health would use a vacant portion of the hospital for isolation and quarantine wards.

“That area can admit up to 20 patients, there are 20 beds there,” Pokolo said.

“We normally used it as a waiting area for some our TB patients who needed temporary isolation from other patients.

“We said [it could be used] if there were any TB patients who tested positive for Covid-19 and for outside cases that were mild or low-risk.”

He said it now appeared that the entire hospital would be used for Covid-19 treatment as TB patients had been moved to the Osmord and Jose Pearson TB hospitals.

Denosa regional secretary Vuyo Nondlawu said another question that had not been answered was whether the current hospital staff would also be sent to those hospitals.

“We have also often highlighted the issue of public transport for staff, so there’s also the question of how they will get to these hospitals to treat their TB patients.”

He said they were sending a memorandum to the department soon to have the matter discussed properly.

Some of the issues outlined in the memorandum are:

According to TB directorates, Empilweni TB Hospital has a huge mortality rate. So, the same nurses are being given a non-curable and highly infectious disease to treat. Is this the strategy to kill us?
The community has not been informed about the removal of their families from the facility; and
TB is a national crisis and now it is being neglected as there are no answers on what will happen in terms of the final outcome.

“Our concern is also the community which has not been informed that patients have been moved from here, and that means people within this community will also be inconvenienced and have to make alternative arrangements to see their relatives,” Nondlawu said.

He said he was also not happy about the slow rate at which nurses were being tested, and these delays put staff at risk of infecting each other.

Department of health spokesperson Siyanda Manana had failed to comment.

via - DISPATCHLIVE