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- The Western Cape health and wellness department will reduce the number of healthcare workers at the Brackengate Covid-19 hospital.
- The facility was established to cater for the overflow of patients during the Covid-19 pandemic.
- About 200 healthcare workers picketed outside the Western Cape legislature on Tuesday to voice their dissatisfaction with the health department's plans.
The Western Cape Department of Health and Wellness (WCDHW) is set to reduce the number of nurses and bed capacity at its Brackengate Covid-19 field hospital facility in Brackenfell at the end of March.
The hospital was originally established and funded as a dedicated Covid-19 facility, to cater for the overflow of patients during the pandemic.
Health department spokesperson Mark van der Heever said the facility and its staff played an important role in supporting the Western Cape government’s emergency response to the pandemic.
"With the pandemic phase of Covid-19 ending and the low number of cases now being admitted, the Covid-19 funding is coming to an end in March," Van der Heever said.
The department said the number of nurses that would be reduced was yet to be determined.
According to the department, while the hospital will no longer specifically cater to the needs of the pandemic, the facility will now be repurposed to serve as a 128-bed general transitional care facility.
"The health department is sourcing its budget internally to maintain its operations. However, as it now has fewer beds than the 338 Covid-19 field hospital, it thus also requires fewer staff," Van der Heever stated.
The department said that since October 2022 it had been engaging with staff members who had been contracted to support the emergency Covid-19 response about the ending of the funding and their contracts, which had been linked to this emergency need.
Van der Heever said the department was consulting with staff and organised labour on the service and staffing plan.
"Once completed, we will complete the recruitment and selection processes needed for the new facility," he said.
While this process was ongoing the department reiterated that patient care "will not be compromised" and contracted staff would continue to serve patients with the necessary dignity and care that healthcare staff were recognised for.
"We are confident that this arrangement will continue to serve the needs of the health system in our province, to ensure good quality patient care for all those in need," Van der Heever added.
Meanwhile, on Tuesday, about 200 healthcare workers belonging to the National Public Service Workers Union (NPSWU) picketed outside the Western Cape legislature in a bid to have their voices heard regarding their dissatisfaction with the department's decision to reduce staffing.
NPSWU spokesperson Zolisa Menze said a memorandum was handed over to a representative of Health MEC Nomafrench Mbombo.
"We are gathered here today to deliver a memorandum about our cry of distress not because of Covid-19, today the pandemic we are facing is the government of the Western Cape, more especially the Department of Health and Wellness that seeks to take away the very last bread we have," said Menze.
"By the end of February 2023, the employees that are gathered here, received letters terminating their contracts of employment effective from 31 March 2023. This comes after there were promises that their contracts would be renewed on 1 April 2023."
According to Menze, the predicament the healthcare workers find themselves in was "heartbreaking".
"We cry because we, the staff of Brackengate intermediate care facility, are the heroes of the Covid-19 pandemic and were the first ones who stood up to help the people of South Africa during a time of global crises and need," Menze said.
He said the staff continued to put their own lives and the lives of their families and loved ones at risk, going beyond the call of duty and working day and night.
"The healthcare workers you see here were at the forefront, by all means trying to save the population of this country, more especially [in the] Western Cape," Menze added.
ANC deputy chief whip in the provincial legislature, Muhammad Khalid Sayed, joined the picket and called on the government to intervene.
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"Our healthcare workers are dedicated heroes and heroines who were at the frontline of the pandemic saving lives. These protests tie in with the broader protest around decent wages and the wage negotiations undertaken by the National Education, Health and Allied Workers' Union (Nehawu). Sadly, these scarce skills are now being gobbled up in the Middle East because they are not able to apply their skills here in the Western Cape due to a lack of jobs," Sayed said.
He said the ANC would be applying added pressure to the legislature to get Mbombo to intervene urgently.
On Monday, public servants affiliated to Nehawu went on a strike at hospitals and other state facilities in parts of the country, despite the government obtaining a court order barring the union's wage strike.
The Department of Public Service and Administration has proposed a salary increase of 4.7%, the union is demanding 10 to 12%.
Nehawu spokesperson Ashley Mabohale at the time said the union's protest was a national strike and a call to action.
"Our grievances must be heard so there can be change," Mabohale said.
