BL Premium reports that Health Minister Zweli Mhize has published new regulations that give the government sweeping powers to redeploy doctors, nurses and other health-care personnel to combat SA’s Covid-19 epidemic.
His move could worsen an already tense relationship with trade unions, which are smarting over the government’s recent decision to freeze wages. The regulations means health authorities such as provincial health departments will be able to move personnel from one facility to another, to quarantine sites, to another town, or even across provincial boundaries. They were published the day before the start of the Easter long weekend and seem to have ‘slipped under the radar’. None of the key unions representing health-care personnel working in the state sector appear to be aware of the new powers granted to their employers. It is not clear what scope health-care personnel have to say no to redeployment. While an emergency situation required drastic action, it was vital that redeployed staff be provided with the appropriate training and equipment, said Solidarity’s sector head for its health-care guild Henru Kruger.
- Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Tamar Kahn at BusinessLive (paywall access only)
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