On Wednesday morning disgruntled hospital staff handed in a memorandum to hospital management outlining their list of demands, which include the procurement of additional protective gear and testing for all nurses before services can be rendered to the community following an encounter with a COVID-19 positive patient this past Sunday. The nurses are threatening to not come to work, should their demands not be met. OFM News’ Olebogeng Motse reports on the events that led to the breakdown in the relationship between hospital staff and management, led by Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Jacob Setshego. 

A hospital employee, who has asked to remain anonymous out of fear of persecution, tells OFM News, that on Sunday a paramedic living in the area came to the hospital with a twisted ankle. He was screened for the coronavirus, but exhibited no symptoms. So staff continued to attend to his injury. The paramedic then requested to be transferred to a Bloemfontein-based private hospital just under 140km away from Ladybrand because he had medical aid. When he arrived in Bloemfontein, unbeknownst to the Senorita Nthlabathi staff, he was tested for the virus and the results came back positive. 

However, once they did catch wind of the test results, some of the staff went into a blind panic, especially those with chronic illnesses. They boycotted their posts on Tuesday, but were threatened with insubordination charges.

The Free State Health Department is aware of the situation, and is expected to respond soon. 

According to the latest statistics on coronavirus cases in the country, released by Health Minister Zweli Mkhize on Tuesday evening, the Free State has 220 active cases, with nine confirmed deaths. In total, 162 have recovered from the virus in the province. 

Nationally, the country is teetering on 23 000 active COVID-19 cases, with 1162 people who had lost their lives to the virus. 

OFM News