Health Minister, Dr Joe Phaahla on the NEHAWU strike. Image via Twitter/@GCIS
Phaahla on NEHAWU strike and its impact on healthcare services
Phaahla visited Thelle Mogoerane District Hospital on Monday morning where all services came to a complete standstill last week.
Health Minister, Dr Joe Phaahla on the NEHAWU strike. Image via Twitter/@GCIS
On Monday Health Minister Joe Phaahla said that the deaths reported at the Thelle Mogoerane District Hospital in Vosloorus are likely to be linked to the Nehawu wage strike.
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PHAAHLA VISIT TO THELLE MOGOERANE HOSPITAL
Phaahla visited the hospital on Monday morning where all services came to a complete standstill from last week. When briefing the media, the minister said that there are reports that babies died at the hospital.
“Until we get the final reports from the clinicians and the pathologist, we will still be saying most deaths are probably linked to the strike. We are talking about people who died in our facilities in a situation where they could not be attended to.”
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“When I was here on Saturday there would be wards where you have 50 children who are being cared for in the neonatal unit, where ordinarily you will have about 20 nurses looking after them and only three had been able to sneak in and look after them.”
DEATH TOLL MIGHT BE HIGHER SINCE THE STRIKE
Phaahla warned that the death toll may be higher as he is still waiting for clinical reports.
“I can tell that the number is not standing at four for sure. There are more reports but we just want to be very accurate. All I can say at this stage is that there are more than four that we have received and we are getting reports from other provinces as well.”
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Meanwhile, Nehawu has vowed to intensify its protests from Monday until its demands are met.
On Sunday Nehawu’s general secretary, Zola Saphetha told the media that the government has been arrogant during the wage negotiations. He said that the union will continue with its protests until further notice.
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“As Nehawu we want to register that it has become quite clear to us that despite all our efforts to resolve the dispute the government is not interested in concluding the 2022/2023 dispute, as they argue that they have closed and concluded negotiations in that financial year.”
