VIEWS
Business: Banning Of Labour Brokers a Mistake
Recent Gauteng Business News
The
Gauteng Department of Health and Social Development wants to
institute a plan to phase out agency staff at state hospitals.
According to the trade union Solidarity this is not a good idea and
will adversely effect patients and the provision of essential medical
care.
The letter that caused Solidarity's
reaction stated that nurses who were working for hospitals through
labour brokers would have to be suspended. According
to the notice, the services of enrolled nurses (nurses with a
two-year qualification) and nursing assistants (nurses with a
one-year qualification) will already be suspended at the end of this
month. In addition, it was verbally communicated that the services of
registered nurses (nurses with a four-year qualification) will be
terminated at the end of November.
There
is a massive shortage of nurses in the health industry in South
Africa and according to Solidarity spokesperson Jaco Kleynhans, “Many
nurses have a permanent job at a state hospital as well as a job at a
labour broker. This gives nurses the opportunity to work more hours
while also providing the hospital with access to nurses who would not
otherwise have been available due to the critical shortage of trained
nursing staff,” Kleynhans said.
Solidarity
warned that the scrapping of labour brokers could push service
delivery in hospitals, which is already unstable, over the edge. It
would also place even more pressure on existing staff as well as
specialist units such as the intensive care, maternity and trauma
units. “In 2007, there were already 40,8 million South Africans
without medical aid, of whom the majority had to rely on medical
services in the public sector.”
The statistics do not
support suspending the nurses we have, just because they work with
labour brokers, either. A study done by solidarity in 2008 revealed
there would be 32 300 vacant nursing positions available and only 19
300 new nurses to fill those position. So with a shortage on 3 000
nurses already on our hands, it would seem a little fool hardy to
compound the problem.
by
Nicholas Krige
Business News Sector Tags: Business|