Democratic Nursing Organisation of South Africa

Media statement 

Wednesday, 29 April 2020

 

The Democratic Nursing Organisation of South Africa (DENOSA) in KwaZulu-Natal welcomes the country being adjusted to level 4 and the possibility of eThekwini  District remaining on level 5.

 

DENOSA is concerned because this means that nurses and other essential service employees are still going to continue experiencing problems in this district. 

 

DENOSA feels staff is still going to suffer with transport which has been a problem that the department failed to resolve as they had promised that transport will be provided for essential  employees but never provided. DENOSA apreciates those institutions which tried to assist our members with alternative accommodation. 

 

Lack of transport has affected our members badly since they have had to make arrangements of transport which required extra money as others had to use services of uber and taxify.  

 

DENOSA is concerned about the community in this eThekwini District not respecting lockdown regulations which we believe is the reason the district is having high rate of infections.

 

Visibility of police is minimal.

 

DENOSA calls for the department to come up with stricter ways of monitoring this lockdown especially in Ethekwini District. 

 

DENOSA note that other provinces did employ more nurses in preparation for this pandemic except KwaZulu-Natal, as confirmed by the MEC Nomagugu Simelane-Zulu. 

 

The province has started screening and testing by visiting the community taking staff from the already depleted staff establishment, further causing shortage of staff. 

 

Addington Hospital isolation ward was opened and there was no additional staff given to this hospital, and they had to source employees from the already depleted nursing staff.

 

Montclair Lodge has also been opened with no new staff as the department took staff from Clairwood Hospital. 

 

DENOSA is of the view that this will further deplete the existing nurses which will result in severe shortages of nurses which will affect service delivery. 

 

They are now preparing for field hospitals which will require more human resources but still they are not employing nurses; instead they called for volunteers which DENOSA believes it was unfair and insensitive of the MEC to expect nurses to put themselves at risk on a voluntary basis.

 

DENOSA welcomes the allocation of doctors from Cuba to the province, however as a province we feel it was premature since we don't believe that at this stage the province needs specialists but field workers to do screening and testing which the department could have employed more nurses instead of calling doctors from outside which will be more costly because they have to be transported, accomodated and fed.

 

While DENOSA welcomes the call for the MEC of the province to employ more nurses, DENOSA has a problem if these nurses are employed on a contract basis.

 

DENOSA believes that the province needs permanent employment of nurses because these nurses will be required beyond the pandemic. 

 

The other disturbing issue is the admission of all positive COVID-19 patients which DENOSA does not believe that the department has sufficient capacity and staff to manage these admissions. 

 

It would have been ideal to start by beefing up human resources prior to making that decision. 

 

The other issue of concern is the management of staff that are exposed to COVID 19 positive patients when they are expected to work within the incubation period which DENOSA redeem to be careless and dangerous and will not assist in curbing the spread of infection since these nurses may expose their families, community and colleagues if they turn positive especially if they use public transport. 

 

DENOSA believes that the nurses must also be quarantined should they get exposed to minimise the spread of infection. 

 

The protocol for management of COVID 19 states that for suspects they must be  quarantined for 14 days but the employer says that, this is not applicable in the case of health care workers, nurses in particular. 

 

Nurses are expected to come to work while they are traumatised by the fact that they have been exposed to Coronavirus and they might be positive but are expected to come to work and be productive.

 

DENOSA will be happy if all health care workers can be provided with continuous counselling and be screened and tested for early diagnosis and prompt treatment and that all staff must be issued with a cloth mask to use while travelling to protect themselves. 

 

DENOSA takes this opportunity to congratulate the health care workers, and nurses in particular, for the wonderful work they are doing in having almost half of the positive cases already recovered. 

 

End

 

Issued by DENOSA in KwaZulu-Natal 

 

For more information, contact:

 

Mandla Shabangu, DENOSA Provincial Secretary 

 

Cell: 0716433369