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Outcomes of DENOSA National Executive Committee Meeting
Media statement
Monday, 25 April 2016
The Democratic Nursing Organisation of South Africa (DENOSA) held its first three-day National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting this year from Wednesday 20 April to Friday 22 April 2016 at the DENOSA head office in Pretoria to deliberate on the state of nursing in the country and the current challenges that the health fraternity faces.
On the lack of safety in the workplace
The NEC notes with great concern the continuing lack of safety of healthcare workers in the workplace as a result of poor security deployment by the state. Over the past few months already, nurses have been at the receiving end of attacks from patients and community members. In all provinces, there have been cases of attacks of nurses in the workplace.
After thorough deliberations and reports from provinces on the attacks of nurses, the NEC resolved that DENOSA has issued enough stern warnings to the employer that security must be beefed up in facilities, and we have noticed that security is only beefed up in facilities after incidents have occurred despite our calls for overall tightening of security in our facilities. The NEC has resolved that one more attack on a nurse or any healthcare worker in any of the country’s facilities will be enough for DENOSA to withdraw members from all facilities whose security has not been tightened.
The most obvious dangerous areas for health workers in many health facilities are the following:
· Psychiatric hospitals;
· Psychiatric wards in other hospitals;
· Outpatient Departments (OPD) in facilities, which are entry points for all patients before any diagnosis; and
· CHCs that have no security
On non-payment of Danger Allowance to nurses and contravention of collective agreement
Given the risky environment that nurses work under, DENOSA calls for total implementation of the relevant resolutions to ensure fairness on the side of the employer to pay nurses and healthcare workers in psychiatric wards in hospitals, outpatient departments and prison clinics with a danger allowance.
New Danger Allowance dispensation was part of the agreement between labour and employer in the public sector negotiations that were concluded for the 2015-17 period and the agreement was that different sectors will discuss those categories in which employees face danger in their daily working conditions, so that these are discussed and resolved on in the Public Service Coordinating Bargaining Council (PSCBC). Our position is that these areas for nurses are the most important and need urgent attention.
On non-payment of danger allowance by Western Cape government since 2007
While payment of Danger Allowance to different categories of government employees, such as nurses who work in psychiatric facilities, is Resolution 1 of 2007 which in the case of nurses stipulates that nurses working with psychiatric patients must be paid Danger Allowance, DENOSA is taking the Western Cape Department of Health to arbitration for failing to pay Danger Allowance to nurses working with psychiatric patients, thus defying this agreement.
We demand that those nurses who have been in the employment of the Department of Health in the Western Cape since 2007 be backdated their rural allowances and those who have been in the employment of the Department after 2007 be backdated from the date of their commencement of employment.
DENOSA regards this as a sheer undermining of nurses by the Western Cape government, and it cannot be tolerated any further.
On Occupation-Specific Dispensation (OSD) and Rural Allowance reviews
DENOSA is saddened that there remains no will on the side of the employer to review Occupation-Specific Dispensation (OSD), which was supposed to be reviewed in 2012 already. The NEC calls for seriousness from the employer to review OSD, which has been a pain for many healthcare workers as it has often been improperly implemented and wrongly interpreted. Government negotiators at the bargaining chamber have been citing that they have not been given a mandate by their principals to kick-start the process negotiating on the review of OSD.
Equally, Rural Allowance is another matter that needs urgent review as the landscape has changed drastically since this agreement was signed. DENOSA calls for lower category nurses to be included in the Rural Allowance band. Because of the severe shortage of nurses especially in rural areas, many of lower category nurses are in charge of CHC facilities which, while it is not accepted as it poses a danger to their careers, they ought to be properly remunerated. Many enrolled nurses (ENs) and enrolled nursing assistants (ENAs) are greatly needed in rural areas, just as professional nurses are, and this is the basis for their qualification for rural allowance. Or else, rural health facilities will remain without nurses of all categories forever.
On National Health Insurance (NHI) and procurement pain
The NEC notes the release of the White Paper on National Health Insurance (NHI) by the Department of Health late last year. DENOSA is in a process of finalizing inputs into the white paper. As great supporters of NHI as a concept of achieving Universal Health Coverage for all citizens regardless of their socio-economic standing, DENOSA remains concerned that there continues to be little progress on the supply of tools of trade for nurses in many facilities that are situated around NHI pilot districts country-wide, despite the supply of a comprehensive list of all required equipment that all facilities must buy.
We call upon government to ensure standards of emergency medical services is adhered to such as provision of life support apparatus.
As NHI will be a key vehicle that will contribute greatly in achieving the dream of access to quality health care services, DENOSA is more convinced that, given the current ongoing challenges in facilities, it has become a non-negotiable that health facilities, districts and provincial departments are led and headed by people with health background.
The NEC is calling on all provincial departments to assist the national department in laying the ground for effective implementation of NHI and ensure the following are put in place as a matter of urgency:
· The establishment of proper nursing directorates and staffing of provincial chief nursing officers in all provinces as a matter of urgency, just as the national department already has;
· Improvement in the supply chain processes;
· Filling of vacant positions as a matter of urgency.
· Delegation of power to procure and repair medical equipment and medication to heads of hospitals from the Department of Public Works.
Poor HR planning and budgeting has been letting the departments down considerably. While there is a severe shortage of healthcare workers, at the beginning of each year many provinces are still unable to employ nurses who have just completed their studies to do community service for a year because HR Departments continuously fail to take plan for this period. Even after community service nurses have finished their community service, they are not absorbed into facilities by January each year because of poor HR Planning in the main. They only get absorbed after April of each year in many instances.
This must come to an end, and the way of assisting it is to establish nursing directorates and chief nursing officers in provinces.
On the Competition Tribunal’s Inquiry into the private health sector
The NEC notes the Competition Tribunal on the pricing of private healthcare in the country, headed by former Chief Justice Sandile Ngcobo. DENOSA is also in line to make a presentation to the Tribunal on the private healthcare pricing in the country, which excludes the majority citizens.
End
Issued by the Democratic Nursing Organisation of South Africa (DENOSA)
For more information, contact:
Simon Hlungwani, DENOSA President
Mobile: 079 501 4922
Email: simonh@denosa.org.za
Or
Sibongiseni Delihlazo, DENOSA Communications Manager
Mobile: 079 875 2663
Email: sibongisenid@denosa.org.za
Website: www.denosa.org.za
Facebook: DENOSA National Page
Twitter: @DENOSAORG
