There have been more than 200 attacks on government hospital and clinic staff over the past two years – more than half of them in KwaZulu-Natal, according to the DA, which has red-flagged the issue of employee safety in state facilities.
The statistics “paint a bleak picture regarding the safety of medical staff”, wrote Michele Clarke, DA shadow minister of health in PoliticsWeb.
“Public health personnel have enough on their plates with broken and dangerous infrastructure, staff shortages, medicine stockouts, and broken equipment… they should not also have to deal with robberies at gunpoint, physical, verbal and sexual abuse, death threats, or violence of any other kind,” she wrote, calling for the Health Minister to do more to ensure their safety.
“The Office of Health Standards Compliance (OHSC) reviews the security of health facilities as part of their ideal clinic checks. The DA will submit a follow-up PQ to the minister to determine how many facilities passed their OHSC security reviews.
“The minister needs to prioritise the safety of clinic and hospital staff. The country is already facing a critical shortage and a steady exodus of medical professionals. Failure to improve their safety will surely exacerbate the situation.”
A case in point is Mabandla Clinic in Kariega, Nelson Mandela Bay, where staff are refusing to work because the fence has been stolen – after thieves first started dismantling and removing it piece by piece in December.
A nurse told GroundUp: “We are not lazy …but we demand our safety as well as that of patients. It will be very easy for criminals to storm into this clinic and steal our belongings, as well as those of our patients.”
Staff had been robbed in the past, they said, and a clinic without a fence made them particularly vulnerable.
“We have been telling the Department of Health about this problem since 11 December, when the fence started being stolen piece by bit. The problem has worsened now and it’s the department’s fault,” another nurse said.
Other issues at the clinic include non-flushing toilets and dry taps, which are ongoing issues.
Regional secretary of the National Education, Health and Allied Workers’ Union Samkelo Msila said the union was aware of the closure of the clinic due to compromised security and occupational health challenges, including the lack of running water.
Provincial Health Department spokesperson Sizwe Kupelo said that the department has sent a delegation to establish the facts and deal with the issue, and that patients requiring care would be assisted at other nearby clinics.
PoliticsWeb article – Medical staff not safe at public health facilities (Open access)
GroundUp article – Staff refuse to work at clinic after fence stolen (Creative Commons Licence)
See more from MedicalBrief archives:
Violent attacks prompt special training for Gauteng healthcare staff
Increasing violent attacks put state healthcare workers at risk
Surge in assaults on staff by psychiatric patients at Helen Joseph Hospital
More than 30 SA hospitals report serious security incidents in past 5 months
Hospitals of fear: Police and guards ‘run away’ during attacks on patients