The quest to identify the whistleblower who let the cat out of the bag about critical staff shortages at Livingstone Hospital has ended.
The Eastern Cape Department of Health admitted that after a social media backlash, it had changed its mind about hunting down the author of a letter about conditions at the Gqeberha hospital, that it was no longer pursuing the person’s identity, and that whistleblowing was encouraged.
News24 reports that last week, after a letter purporting to be from the surgery department warned patients of a shortage of doctors at the outpatient clinics, the department’s director of communications Siyanda Manana had said that an investigation was being launched “to uncover the author”.
U-turn
However, department spokesperson Sizwe Kupelo has since said the provincial government was “on record encouraging whistleblowing on wrongdoing”, and that the hospital was finalising the appointment of a permanent CEO and had hired six additional doctors.
“Another process is under way to employ three specialists, six nursing managers, two pharmacists and a physiotherapist.”
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Eastern Cape Health hunts whistleblower
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