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Government has brought Life Esidimeni findings upon itself!
Media statement
Monday, 19 March 2018
The Democratic Nursing Organisation of South Africa (DENOSA) notes the findings of the Life Esidimeni Arbitration which were delivered by Justice Dikgang Moseneke earlier today.
DENOSA regard the findings, and especially the order for government to give victims’ families financial compensation as a deserved punishment for government’s deteriorating quality healthcare service as a result of its many ill-considered cost-cutting measures in health facilities across the country.
The Gauteng Health Department’s inability to address its capacity challenges is proving to be costly in many ways. DENOSA is still adamant that human resource challenges, characterized by continuing shortage of staff and preoccupation with the costly outsourcing of services, are the main reasons behind the many legal woes faced by the Department.
Simply put, the few workers employed by the department are being overloaded with work and there is no leadership foresight and boldness to address the problem at both national and provincial levels. Poor Human Capital Management and planning is what is bringing Gauteng public healthcare, which services 71% of its 13.4 million population, to its knees.
The MEC of Health, Dr Gwen Ramokgopa, has acknowledged it herself that in 1998 the Department had 62 000 employees out of the then 7 million people in Gauteng. Today this population figure has almost doubled (to 13.4 million), and yet the department now has 68 000 employees! This is the route of the crisis!
In addition to this, the Department is faced with a frustrated workforce whose work is not being appreciated. As a result, Gauteng Department has not paid the highly overworked workers performance bonuses for 2016/2017 and 2017/2018 financial years. The question is no longer about whether they should get paid what is due to them, but what kind of service are they expected to render when they are not happy? And their unhappiness, which has progressed into high stress levels, is not addressed in the workplace through interventions such as counselling or capacity and skills development.
The order to pay victims hundreds of millions of Rands is likely to anger workers even more, as they are subordinates of senior managers who continue to plunge the Department into deeper financial woes because of their poor decisions, as their own little issue of compensation is being overlooked by them!
The question will remain therefore: what kind of service are people of Gauteng (making 24% of South Africa’s population) going to get when further millions are to be paid to victims in damages by a department that has already hanged itself into debts?
If nothing is done, the health system will just produce more victims that must be compensated in the end, just as it is happening in many maternity sections already! The healthcare quality is becoming dangerously poor by the day, and more health professionals are turning into victims of this poor system because the rules of the game are changing.
Government has suffered a self-inflicted pain in this one.
DENOSA appeals to President Cyril Ramaphosa to urgently look into this sector in all provinces, because the National Department of Health is overwhelmed due to lack of powers and nothing good is coming out of its presence at this stage. Or else, the troubles will go deeper.
End
Issued by the Democratic Nursing Organisation of South Africa (DENOSA)
For more information, contact:
Cassim Lekhoathi, DENOSA Acting General Secretary
Mobile: 082 328 9671
Or
Simon Hlungwani, DENOSA President
Mobile: 082 328 9635
Tel: 012 343 2315
Website: www.denosa.org.za
Facebook: DENOSA National Page
Twitter: @DENOSAORG
